Centering the Twin-Track Approach in Community-Based Inclusive Development Projects in Kenya

Abstract

Community-Based Inclusive Development (CBID) in Kenya is a strategy based on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), rights-based community-driven and ownership of persons with disabilities (PWD) to ensure full participation in the social, economic, and civic life of the community, thus is compliant with the Constitution of Kenya 2010 (Articles 27 and 54) and policy reviews such as the revised National Policy on Persons with Disabilities. Although some gains have been made in terms of moving towards medical-model Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) to multi-sectoral inclusion of health, education, livelihoods, social participation, and empowerment, there is usually an aspect of fragmentation in implementation. The current obstacles cannot be overcome with single-track approaches, i.e. the broad mainstreaming, lacking sufficient targeted support, or isolated interventions tailored to the needs of the PWDs, which therefore cannot lead to complete participation, prolonged exclusion, and unequal results among the PWDs, especially intersecting vulnerabilities. The current conceptual paper proposes the idea that the twin-track approach should be the baseline of successful CBID in Kenya. Track 1 (mainstreaming) involves the inclusion of the disability factor in all the community development to eliminate barriers within the system and make it accessible to everybody. Track 2 (targeted empowerment) provides measures that are disability-specific such as rehabilitation, assistive devices, capacity building to Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and specialized skills training that will enable equitable participation. The two tracks are mutually sustaining: mainstreaming that is not empowered is not available and target support that is not mainstream isolates the PWDs. Based on the CRPD and principles, Kenyan policy frameworks and the best practices globally, the paper will suggest a perfected model of Centered Twin-Track CBID that highlights the ideas of co-design with OPDs, local adaptation, and synergistic implementation. This multidimensional approach can fill the gap between theory and practice and provides recommendations to policymakers, practitioners, local governments, and development partners in the US to make CBID sustainable and equitable without leaving anyone behind.