Ukur Yatani pushes for tech hub to cater for the disabled

The Labour ministry is pushing for the establishment of a technology hub to produce assistive devices for the disabled.

Labour CS Ukur Yatani says the disabled need to be considered when embracing modern technology to help empower them.

Mr Yatani made the remarks in London ahead of Tuesday’s Global Disability Summit scheduled to take place at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London.

“We use a lot of money to buy assistive devices for [the disabled] and we want to reverse this. We cannot lag behind in using technology to empower them,” said the CS in a statement.

He said the government is seeking the support from stakeholders, especially the private sector, to put up the technology centre.

The summit is co-hosted by the Kenyan and UK governments.

It is the first ever global summit whose aim is to highlight successes and gaps in disability inclusion as well as make new commitments towards addressing the plight of the disabled.

“We are here to share best practices and we look forward to fruitful discussions on how we can partner with stakeholders to improve on disability inclusion in all sectors of social economic development,” Mr Yatani said.

The summit issues revolve around stigma and discrimination, inclusive education, technology and economic empowerment.

The Kenyan delegation includes officials from the ministries of Labour, Transport and Infrastructure as well as National Treasury.

The ministries are considered key to the implementation of policies related to disability inclusion.

Legislators with disabilities from both the Senate and the National Assembly are also attending the summit.