Measurement of gender dimensions
of
Persons with Disabilities
23 July 2016
Uganda Bureau of Statistics <> Plot 9 Colville Street <> Website: www.ubos.org
Tel: +256-41-4706000 <> E-mail: ubos@ubos.org
ESA/STA/AC.219/27
1
Presentation Outline
About UBOS
Definitions of Disability
Categories of Disability
Issues of Concern on Disability
The Gender Dimensions
Measurement of the gender dimensions of
PWDs
Recommendations
About UBOS
The Mandate of Uganda Bureau of Statistics
(UBOS) is enshrined in the UBOS Act No 12 of
June 1998 to:
Develop and maintain a National Statistical
System (NSS) so as to ensure collection,
analysis and publication of integrated, relevant,
reliable and timely official statistical information;
Constitute a coordinating, monitoring and
supervisory body for the NSS.
About UBOS-Cont’d
Uganda has developed a Plan for National
Statistical Development (PNSD).
The Plan underlines the need to engender
statistics. This involves generation of statistics
on different cultural, social and economic
dimensions between women and men to inform
planning and policy processes across key
MDAs.
Definitions of Disability
According to the National Policy on Disability (NPD)
in Uganda;
Disability is defined as the permanent and
substantial functional limitation of daily life
activities caused by physical, mental or sensory
impairment and environmental barriers resulting
in limited participation.
Definitions of Disability-Cont’d
According to the PWD Act 2006;
“Person with Disability“ (PWD) refers to a person
having physical, intellectual, sensory or mental
impairment which substantially limits one or
more of the major life activities of that person.
Categories of Disability
Difficulty in hearing;
Difficulty in speaking
and conveying
messages;
Difficulty in moving
around and using
other body parts;
Difficulty in seeing;
Strange behavior;
Epilepsy;
Difficulty in learning;
Leprosy;
Loss of feeling;
Multiple disabilities (A
combination of any of the
above disabilities)
Issues of Concern on Disability




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

Poverty
Education and Skills
Employment
Conflicts and Emergencies
Social Security
Health
HIV/AIDS
Accessibility
The gender dimension
PWDs differ in most areas of life and obviously
in regard to gender identity.
By ignoring gender and overlooking differences
in the roles, responsibilities, access, needs and
interests of the two sexes, the interventions run
the risk of deepening the inequality between
women and men with disabilities.
.
The gender dimension-Cont’d
Disabilities affect men and women differently, but
impact more on females compared to males due
to social and cultural roles.
Discriminatory cultural practices on property
inheritance and property ownership affect the
livelihoods of women with disabilities more
adversely than men with disabilities.
The gender dimension-Cont’d
This is compounded by inadequate programmes
that focus on women with disabilities during
service delivery, which makes it even more
difficult for them to improve their livelihoods.
The gender dimension-Cont’d
Government has put in policies to benefit all
women and girls with disabilities. E.g. the land
policy, laws on marriage and divorce,
inheritance, domestic violence and other forms
of violence against women and girls.
However, in spite of the above, lack of public
awareness, negative community attitudes,
cultural beliefs and lack of programmes on
specific concerns of women with disabilities
remain challenges.
Measurement of the gender
dimensions of PWDs
In Uganda, the current efforts have been to
include a section on Disability in all Surveys and
Censuses. The data on PWDs has so far been
disaggregated by sex.
Because of the complexity of measuring
disability in the context of the ICF, the 2002 PHC
defined disability as ‘any difficulty in moving,
seeing, hearing, speaking and any mental or
learning difficulty, which has lasted or is
expected to last 6 months or more.
Measurement of the gender
dimensions of PWDs–Cont’d
UDHS 2010/11 Questionnaire
Q1. Does
(NAME)
have
difficulty
seeing
even if
he/she is
wearing
glasses?
Q2. Does
Q3. Does
(NAME)
(NAME)
have
have
difficulty
difficulty
hearing
walking or
even if
climbing
he/she is
steps?
using a
hearing aid?
Q4. Does
(NAME) have
difficulty in
remembering
or
concentrating?
Measurement of the gender
dimensions of PWDs–Cont’d
2012 PHC Questionnaire
Q1.Because
of a health
condition
does
(NAME)
have
difficulty
seeing
even if
he/she is
wearing
glasses?
Q2. Because of Q3. Because Q4. Because of a
a health
of a
health
condition
health
condition does
does (NAME)
condition
(NAME) have
have
does
difficulty in
difficulty
(NAME)
remembering
hearing even
have
or
if he/she is
difficulty
concentrating?
using a
walking or
hearing aid?
climbing
steps?
Measurement of the gender
dimensions of PWDs–Cont’d
This kind of measurement neither shows the
resulting socio limitations experienced by the
affected persons nor indicates the gender
differences.
Recommendation
In view of the issues of concern on PWDs, there
should be a thorough analysis of the data
collected to bring out the gender dimensions.
Thank You