Deaf Livelihoods Development Activity

Lifting Kenyan people who are deaf and their families out of extreme poverty by actively engaging them in self-employment economic activities

Towards a Solution

The Deaf Livelihoods Development Activity (DLDA) initiative was carried out by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Deaf Empowerment Society of Kenya (DESK), under UNDP’s Economic Empowerment Programme, with support from the Government of Kenya, USAID and the Indian Institute of Public Health. This initiative mainstreamed inclusiveness in institutional and policy frameworks and empowered marginalized groups as economic agents through enhancing their entrepreneurship and vocational skills and promoting value chain development and business models. In particular, the DLDA aimed at empowering Kenyans who are deaf and their families to lift them out of poverty through self-employment by involving them in sustainable economic activities and inclusive business development. 

The initiative provided individuals who are deaf and hard-of-hearing with a one-month training programme in management, business plan formulation and skills development, as well as offered mentorship and financial support (seed capital in the form of assets). The initiative targeted people who are 18 years and above who are deaf, including both those who had active micro and small businesses and those wishing to start new businesses. The first phase of the initiative covered 29 Kenyan counties and reached 151 persons (80 males and 71 females). 

Following the entrepreneurial training, DESK conducted visits to the beneficiary’s business location to confirm their business ideas before procuring the needed equipment. It is worth noting that even before receiving the seed capital contributions, some beneficiaries had already started new income-generating activities based on the knowledge acquired from the training. 

Through monitoring and evaluation, DESK will follow up with the beneficiaries and record lessons learned for improving the DLDA format. In addition to ensuring the sustainability and continued improvement of the initiative, the monitoring and evaluation exercise has also allowed the beneficiaries to receive additional mentorship and technical support. 

DESK was sponsored by the Indian Institute of Public Health to attend a conference in 2018 to share the lessons learned from the DLDA initiative and other experiences on disability, health and inclusion.