Operation Wealth Creation and Livelihoods of people with physical Disabilities

Abstract

The study was about Operation Wealth Creation and Livelihoods of PWDs in Kamukuzi Mbarara Municipality. The study aimed at; establishing the extent of involvement and participation of PWDs in operation wealth creation, documenting the nature of services and products provided to PWDs by operation wealth creation, establishing the benefits of operation wealth creation towards PWDs’ livelihoods and finding out the challenges faced by people with physical disabilities in promoting their livelihoods through operation wealth creation. The study adopted a cross-sectional and descriptive study design and targeted PWDs that were 18 years and above, OWC officials and local leaders. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select respondents. Questionnaire and interviews were used as data collection methods. Data analysis was both qualitative and quantitative as they complemented each other in generating true information. It was established that PWDs are less involved in operation wealth creation program being attributed to Program design which does not favour their involvement and PWDs having not been made aware of the benefits. Services provided by OWC to the few involved PWDs were Delivery of seeds to farmers, youth livelihood funds and training. The findings indicated that to a large extent, OWC has not changed the livelihoods of people with physical disabilities and benefits included self-employment, improved skills and food security. The challenges faced in promoting livelihoods of people with physical disabilities through OWC have ranged from physical disability to discrimination and lack of information. It is evident that people with physical disabilities have not been involved in the current operation wealth creation. There is need for special attention to PWDs right from the program design to implementation and to build mechanisms into a framework that integrates and accommodates different stakeholder interests.