Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) called for increased efforts to bridge the gap between the country’s commitment to achieve inclusiveness and provision of services to persons with disabilities. The call was made on Thursday (November 28^th, 2019) as RGB presented findings of an assessment it conducted on Service Delivery to Persons with disabilities in the sectors of education, health and local governments.   

The assessment conducted in 11 districts indicated that out of 3,034 ordinary schools in those districts, only 40 fulfilled requirements for inclusive education.  The schools, health facilities and local government entities lack skills and infrastructure meant to ease services to people with disabilities, according to the study.

The assessment also identified service gaps in the health sector as information gathered from 22 health facilities showed that health care centers do not provide specialized treatment to persons with disabilities because they are not equipped to do so. Still in the health sector, out of 154 PWDs who were interviewed, 72% are not satisfied by Mituelle de santé (CBHI) partly because “most of their medical needs relating to their disabilities are not covered under CBHI scheme”.  

Other notable challenges revealed by the assessment are that National Councils of Persons with Disabilities are not functioning at the sector and cell levels and the limited number of specialized schools for PWDs.

Dr. Usta Kaitesi, the CEO of Rwanda Governance Board said that there is still work to be done for  PWDs to enjoy full benefits of the laws, policies and ministerial orders that the country put in place to facilitate their access to services.

“Our country has a target of attaining 90% of citizens' satisfaction with service delivery by 2024 there is still a long way to go and PWDs, that level of satisfaction should also be among PWDs.  There should be urgency in addressing the challenges that hinder good service delivery to PWDs”

According to the Fourth Population and Housing Census 446,453 Rwandans were identified as PWDs. This represented 4.4 % of the total population which was estimated to be around 10.5 million people. Out of this number, 221.150 (49.5%) were male while 225.303 (50.4%) were female.