ARD is a fully registered Regional NGO which started as a support group in Kampala (2010), after detecting that PWDs couldn’t advocate for themselves without being a group. With the support from InterAid, UNHCR, and RLP, the group of Refugees with disabilities had been formed. They reached a time when they wanted to create a strong association that will be known all over Uganda.
In 2015, the group started to elaborate a constitution that would provide a legal basis and guide their operations with assistance from RLP. By 2017, the organisation had moved from being a support group to an Association of Refugees with disability (ARD) and in May 2023 ARD moved to a fully registered Regional NGO.
In Kampala, the association is formed by different nationalities (Congolese, Sudanese, Somalis, Burundian, and South Sudanese & Rwandese). Every association has a committee of 7 members (chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, and treasurer). On top of these 6 associations, there is ARD that includes 7 board members, and every nationality and other categories (youth, elders, type of disability) are represented. Under the board, there are 3 staffs (the coordinator, the administrative assistant & the accountant).
In September-October 2021: ARD has expanded its membership in six refugee settlements by forming structures of PWDs representatives at different levels of the settlements. ARD branches are now operational in the following settlements:
Adjumani/Maaji
Kiryandongo
Kyaka II/Kyegegwa
Kyangwali/Hoima
Nakivale/Isingiro
Rwamwanja/Kamwenge