Albinism Umbrella was founded in 2015 and incorporated in 2017 as a Non-Governmental Organization with the aim of having a joint voice for all Persons with Albinism.
As we celebrate our 5 years of vivid existence, we say it has been an incredible journey of changing the community’s perception about Albinism and we are proud of what we managed to achieve as an organization over the years.
During this year’s celebration of the International Albinism Awareness Day under the theme “ United in Making our Voice Heard” where we were recognized as part of the committee in the development of the National Action Plan for Persons with Albinism which is a great stride in addressing discrimination against Persons with Albinism.
The Action Plan priotizes the following areas of interest which include awareness, access to social services like education, healthcare, work and employment, children, women and refugees with Albinism, policies and laws, accountability, safety and security, mainstreaming Albinism in all government programs, promoting equal opportunity and treatment, inclusion of Persons with Albinism for their well-being. We believe that with the launch of the National Action Plan, extensive public sensitization will done to dispel misconceptions and biases surrounding Persons with Albinism.
With the assistance from VOICE/OXFAM, we managed to map out and profile Persons with Albinism in the four regions of Uganda which are Central, Eastern, Northern and Western. With this type of data at hand, planning for Persons with Albinism in Uganda has been made easy in the different social services of health, education amongst others.
In the last two years, the world at large suffered a drastic stop due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The pandemic had a huge impact on everyone including Persons with Albinism and as Albinism Umbrella; we were able to solicit for food items from the Office of the Prime Minister during the lockdown. Also, with the support from the United Nations Human Rights, we delivered food supplies and sunscreen to the different communities during this difficult time.
We have also succeeded in advocating for, defended and protected the education rights of Persons with Albinism. With the help from the heads of institutions and Uganda National Examination Board, we were given access to print exams for the candidates for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022 with larger fonts.
Albinism Umbrella spearheaded parliamentary fundraising walks to raise resources for the establishment of a rehabilitation and skilling center for Persons with Albinism in Uganda.
We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ministry of Health to advocate for the inclusion of the sunscreen as an essential drug and also pushing for the cancer policy to include the health needs of Persons with Albinism.
It has been a journey of great achievements and tremendous success and remarkable growth. We are proud to say that we have at least pushed for the Albinism fraternity and we can say we are not even half way the journey because we believe in making the environment a very safe place for persons with Albinism and build a center that will skill them for all kind of opportunities in the future.
Last modified: January 8, 2024
