KIPPRA participated in and supported this year’s UHAI festival. The festival, which serves as a platform to promote and nurture talents of Persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs), took place at the Machakos Peoples’ Park on 5th and 6th November 2021. The event was graced by KIPPRA Executive Director Dr Rose Ngugi, Machawood CEO Mr Victor Muniafu, Signs TV CEO Mr Luke Muleka and a few KIPPRA staff.
UHAI festival is an annual event, which was started in 2018 by Signs TV in partnership with Machakos County Government. This year’s event attracted 250 participants from different parts of the country. The participants showcased their talents and took part in sports namely blind football, roll ball, sitting volleyball, deaf football and amputee soccer.
Speaking at the event, Dr Ngugi, who was the chief guest, said KIPPRA supported the festival as part of its corporate social responsibility. She added that the festival provided an opportunity for KIPPRA to understand areas of policy focus in relation to PWDs. Dr Ngugi noted that the event also acted as a platform for public participation in policy formulation, enhanced inclusion of PWDs and demonstrated that disability is not inability.
The Executive Director further outlined different ways the Institute supported PWDs, including undertaking policy research on inclusion of PWDs and organizing conferences such as the 3rd KIPPRA Annual Regional Conference, which focused on PWDs. The conference, themed “Enhancing Inclusivity through empowering Persons Living with Disability” served as a platform to discuss the welfare of PWDs and provide policy recommendations aimed at creating an enabling policy and legal environment for inclusion of PWDs.
Mr Victor Muniafu noted that the festival is one of the programmes of Machakos County Government aimed at embracing inclusion and mainstreaming of PWDs. Mr Muleka, on his part, thanked KIPPRA for agreeing to partner with Signs TV to make the festival a success.
KIPPRA was the main sponsor at the event and bought lunch for all participants.
