• Home
  HTML DropDown DHTML DropDown menu JavaScript DropDown DropDown Menu CSS DropDown
• About us
  What is UNAPD Objectives Operating Principles UNAPD Culture Photo Gallery
• Disability
  What is Physical Disability Levels of Physical Disability Causes of Physical Disability Types of Physical Disability
• Our Work
  What We Do Achievements Where We Work
• Membership
  National and Local Level Why Become a Member
• Structure
  General Assembly Executive Board of Directors Secretariat
• Projects
  Uganda Brain Injury Support Project (UBSIP) Capacity Building and Accessibility Project The Wings Project Human Rights Project Labour Market Project HIV/AIDS Project Microfinance Project
• Contact
  Addresses Send Message
• Partners

What is UANPD?

In Uganda, PWDs groups and associations existed as early as 1972, when the Association of the Blind was formed. By 1987, a number of associations had been formed and came together to form an umbrella organization called National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU). This section looks at why and how UNAPD was formed.

By 1998 persons with hearing impairment, the blind, the epileptic and those with learning difficulties had already or were in the process of establishing strong national disability organisations. However, by then, Persons with Physical Disabilities, who comprise 60% of the PWDs in Uganda, had no strong national organization. The Disability Fraternity would be weak as long as such a big percentage was not organised and united.

Therefore, the formation of UNAPD was long overdue, and was mainly in response to three factors:

• The need to unite PWPDs for collective action. This would provide them a forum for analysing needs, challenges and opportunities, and make a united front to overcome the barriers to achieving equal opportunities.
• The need to lobby for support for specific needs of PWPDs that had not been considered due to lack of an appropriate forum.
• To strengthen the Disability Fraternity through forming a national organisation.

This is not to say, however, that before the formation of UNAPD, PWPDs had not been active in the Disability Fraternity. Many organisations including NUDIPU were started and had been strongly influenced and supported by PWPDs.

The growth of the Disability Fraternity, the trends in the fraternity structure and the large percentage of PWPDs made it necessary to have their own organisation.

The founding of UNAPD

On 6th June 1998, PWPDs guided by Hon. James Mwandha and the then Minister of State in charge of Persons with Disabilities and Elderly, Hon. Florence Nayiga Sekabira, held a meeting at COMBRA, and formed Uganda National Action on Physical Disabilities (UNAPD).

But soon after UNAPD's formation, it was learnt that a similar organisation, Uganda National Association of People with Physical Disabilities (UNAPPD), had been formed earlier in 1986 with similar objectives. Members of UNAPPD were opposed to the formation of UNAPD, and felt that it was a duplication of their organization.

As an intervention, NUDIPU, the umbrella body for Persons with Disabilities in Uganda, convened members of UNAPPD, UNAPD and representatives from Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs), to sort out the anomaly.

In the meeting held in Mbarara, it was decided that a new organisation be established to replace the two. A task force was elected to work out the modalities for forming a third organisation of PWPDs. The first two organisations would then be dissolved.

Merging

UNAPPD and UNAPD members were not satisfied with the decision of the Mbarara meeting, and instead opted for a merger. They reasoned that it was not right to bury their Mission, Vision and their initial input into the formation of the two organisations.

On the 9th December 1999, the two organizations formerly agreed to merge, signed a declaration and adopted Uganda National Action on Physical Disability (UNAPD) as the official name. The merging brought the two Boards of Directors into one enlarged Board of 19 members.

After the merger, UNAPD faced many challenges but were eventually overcome. Now, UNAPD is recognised nationally as a representative of PWPDs and has over 38 district member associations.