On August 25, 2025, Kenya made a historic move by launching the Joint Disability Inclusion Strategy (2025–27). More than just another policy document, it signals a bold vision: that persons with disabilities are not afterthoughts in our development journey, but central actors in shaping it.
For far too long, disability inclusion has been treated as a footnote in development planning. Despite progressive laws and moments of goodwill, persons with disabilities have continued to face barriers to education, employment, political participation, and access to public services. UNDP’s report ‘Building an Inclusive Kenya’ underscores the true cost of that exclusion: the economy loses about Sh1 trillion annually equivalent to Sh7.7 billion, or 6.9 percent of its GDP.
Poverty among persons with disabilities reduced from 45.7 percent in 2019 to 38 percent in 2023, still above the national average. Persons with disabilities are also about twice as likely to be unemployed, and when they are employed, they face a persistent wage gap, earning on average 25–30 percent less than their peers without disabilities. This is not only a profound injustice, it represents a massive drain on Kenya’s productivity and economic growth.
The Joint Disability Inclusion Strategy changes that narrative by embedding inclusion into the very core of Kenya’s growth agenda. Anchored in the Persons with Disabilities Act 2025 and aligned with the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy, this framework provides a practical, time-bound blueprint for action.
The strategy rests on five strategic pillars: economic empowerment, political empowerment, digital empowerment, access to facilities and services, and data and statistics. Each of these pillars is designed to dismantle systemic barriers while creating new pathways to opportunity.
These are not abstract commitments. They translate into concrete measures: enforcement of the five percent employment and political participation quota, expansion of assistive technologies, development of inclusive infrastructure through the Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability and Quality Framework, and strengthening of disability data systems for evidence-based policymaking.
In the spirit of progress, the importance of these measures cannot be overstated. Economic empowerment means that persons with disabilities are no longer locked out of the job market and can earn livelihoods on equal terms.
Political empowerment ensures their voices shape the laws and policies that affect their lives. Digital empowerment opens doors to education, entrepreneurship, and global connectivity in a rapidly evolving digital economy. Accessible facilities and services transform daily life inclusive spaces. Robust data systems guarantee that persons with disabilities are visible in development planning, rather than forgotten in statistics.
What makes this strategy particularly powerful is its collaborative foundation. The government worked with 78 partners from civil society, the private sector, development partners, and the UN. This multi-sectoral approach acknowledges a profound truth: disability inclusion is not the responsibility of government alone. It requires the full weight of society including businesses, schools, health providers, communities, and citizens to succeed. Yet, the true test of this strategy lies not in its ceremonial launch but in its delivery. Persons with disabilities in Kenya have heard promises before. They have watched frameworks gather dust while exclusion persisted. This time must be different.
The National Council for Persons with Disabilities, as the lead coordinating agency, carries the responsibility of ensuring implementation, but accountability must extend across all sectors. Employers must respect quotas. Policymakers must allocate resources. Service providers must adapt systems. And citizens must challenge stigma in their homes, schools, and workplaces.
If we succeed, Kenya will not only meet its obligations under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development it will set a benchmark for the continent and the world. We will show that inclusion is not charity, but smart policy. That by removing barriers, we unleash talent, creativity, and resilience that benefit the entire nation. The late disability rights advocate Judy Heumann said: “For most of us, technology makes things easier. For a person with a disability, it makes things possible.”
Kenya has drawn a bold blueprint. Now we must build the inclusive society it envisions, commitment by commitment. Our children, and history itself, will judge us not by the promises we make today, but by the actions we take tomorrow.
Ashura Michael, human rights, gender, inclusion, and public policy advocate
