Entrepreneurship Development among Women with Disabilities in Rwanda. A case of Bugesera district.
Volume 6 - Issue 1, January 2023 Edition
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Author(s)
Dr. Sebastien Gasana, Védaste Habamenshi, Sylvie Nibeza
Keywords
Employment, entrepreneurship Development, job, women with disability.
Abstract
This research assessed entrepreneurship development among women with disabilities in Rwanda using a case of Bugesera district. The research assessed the status of working for pay among women with disability in Bugesera district, the training level on entrepreneurship and financial literacy, the level of knowledge of business creation and management, employment preference by women with disability, and challenges of employment promotion among women with disability in Bugesera district. A sample of 177 women and girls with disability aged between 15 and 45 were selected purposively from 15 sectors of Bugesera district, all types of disability and education levels being represented. Pilot survey was conducted on 20 women and girls with disability of Gakenke district and the results indicated that the tool was valid and reliable. Descriptive statistics was applied and the results are presented in form of frequency and percentages. The results of the research indicated that 72.3% of surveyed women and girls with disabilities did not apply for paid job due to low education level and lack of self- confidence and lack of confidence by the job providers. 88.1% of women and girls with disability were not trained on entrepreneurship and 83.1% were not trained on financial literacy. This is a severe issue that has to be addressed for promoting access to jobs as this issue limit the knowledge about business creation and management as indicated by 54.2% lacking knowledge on selection and management of small scale projects; lack of knowledge on institutions and programs providing loans to small businesses as affirmed by 58.2%; lack of knowledge on available opportunities to become entrepreneur as indicated by 59.3%. Yet, women and girls with disability prefer self- employment than working for pay as indicated by 68.4%. Challenges of employment promotion among women with disability in Bugesera district include but not limited to: Non-inclusive education and vocational training leading to lower levels of education and training among persons with disabilities, Lack of information and support for companies considering the employment of persons with disabilities; Societal views of disability heavily stigmatized; Accessibility barriers in built environments including transport, products and services; Lack of awareness of disability in the workplace leading to misrepresentation and stigma; Welfare systems which discourage people from entering employment; Inadequate provision of workplace adjustments; Low level of capacity of publicly funded bodies to effectively support persons with disabilities. These results led to conclude that lack of general education and training on business creation and management affect negatively employment creation among women with disability in Bugesera district.
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