In Uganda, as in other African nations, disability is a wide spread phenomena and continues to rise as a result of malnutrition, disease, environmental hazards, natural disasters, motor and industrial accidents, civil conflict and war. The vast majority of Africans with disabilities are excluded from schools and opportunities to work, virtually guaranteeing that they will live their lives as the poorest of the poor. School enrolment for children with disabilities is estimated at no more than 5-10 percent. As many as 80 percent of working age people with disabilities are unemployed. Only 1 percent of disabled women living in developing countries are literate. The social stigma associated with disability results in marginalization and isolation, often leading to begging as the sole means of survival (USAID 2005).
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