Towards economic empowerment: segregation versus inclusion in the Kenyan context

Given the well-documented links between poverty and disability in the majority world, and the mandate given to address this issue by international agreements, such as the recent United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, this paper examines the issue of how best to promote economic empowerment in the Kenyan context. The paper presents findings from recent field research, based on a series of 10 case studies, conducted in Kenya during June and July 2010. The main aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of segregated and inclusive strategies. The paper concludes that, while inclusive strategies have a number of advantages over segregated strategies, and have achieved considerable success, segregated strategies may still have an important role to play.