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Good practice Imported

ICT4PWD Programme — DPO-Partnered Accessible Digital-Skilling Model

Uganda · Kampala · See the Uganda profile · See the Kampala profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 24% 92/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Uganda's telecom regulator (UCC), partnered with DPOs NUDIPU and NUWODU, delivered accessible digital-skills training to 1,010 people with disabilities across 28 districts in Year 1, with a 96.1% completion rate, per an independently commissioned evaluation.

1,010 people with disabilities
Participants trained, Year 1 (Year 1 (2025))
28 districts (all 5 regions)
Districts covered, Year 1 (Year 1 (2025))
96.1 %
Completion rate
971 certifications
Certifications issued
99.2 %
Participants who would share new skills with other PWDs
73 of 135 districts
Districts covered by independent impact assessment
ICT4PWD Programme — DPO-Partnered Accessible Digital-Skilling Model

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Uganda Communications Commission / Uganda Communications Universal Service and Access Fund, with NUDIPU, NUWODU and Eight Tech Consults
Period
Year 1 of a three-year pilot (2025), ongoing
Keywords
digital literacy, disability, universal service fund, sign language, accessible training

Context

An estimated 16% of Ugandans live with a disability. The Uganda Communications Commission's Universal Service and Access Fund designed ICT4PWD as a three-year pilot with apex disabled-persons' organisations NUDIPU and NUWODU, plus contractor Eight Tech Consults, built around a 'Community Centric Digital Skilling Approach'.

Activities

In Year 1 the programme delivered 56 two-day sessions across 28 districts spanning all five Uganda regions to 1,010 participants (55.5% male, 44.5% female; 28.4% with visual disabilities, 28.3% deaf, 8.4% hard of hearing), using accessible curricula with sign-language interpretation, screen readers and facilitators who themselves have disabilities.

Results

The programme achieved a 96.1% completion rate (971 certifications issued); 'Very Confident' self-ratings nearly tripled after training while 'Poor' ratings dropped 94%, and 99.2% said they would share their new skills with other people with disabilities. UCC separately commissioned an independent four-month impact assessment by Radix Management Consulting, covering 73 of Uganda's 135 districts, which corroborated 'notable progress'.

Conclusions

UCC's own published summary of that assessment states plainly that sustaining and scaling the gains will require targeted support for underserved disability groups, longer training cycles, improved connectivity, and deeper integration into government systems — a limitation disclosed by the commissioning regulator itself.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
Uganda Communications Commission / Universal Service and Access Fund, NUDIPU, NUWODU (apex DPOs), Eight Tech Consults (contractor)

Conditions for success

  • Accessible curricula co-designed with disabled-persons' organisations
  • Facilitators who themselves have disabilities
  • Independent impact assessment commissioned by the regulator itself

Common failure modes

  • Regulator's own assessment states scaling requires longer training cycles, improved connectivity and deeper government integration

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