On 1st April 2020, a tri-partite agreement among Bangladesh Business and Disability Network (BBDN) and Sightsavers Bangladesh Country Office (Sightsavers) and ADD International Bangladesh (ADD) was signed for setting out agreed commitments for the coordination and cooperation among the three organizations to implement the “Inclusion Works” Programme, funded by UKaid—from the British People, to create employment opportunities for the people living with disabilities in Bangladesh. The Programme is working across the globe to promote ‘Inclusive Futures’ with a special focus on people with disabilities. Mr. Murteza Rafi Khan, CEO of BBDN, Ms. Amrita Rejina Rozario, Country Director of Sightsavers Bangladesh Country Office and Mr. Shafiqul Islam, Country Director of ADD International Bangladesh signed on behalf of their respective organisations.
Inclusion Works represents one of the world’s most comprehensive attempts to date to redress the underrepresentation of people with disabilities in formal employment in developing countries. It will pilot new approaches that will create job opportunities for over 2,000 people with disabilities in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Bangladesh over the next two and half years. Inclusion Works aims to work in partnership with over 100 employers to test new practices that are compliant with UN disability rights protocols. It will be designed to include people of all types of disabilities, including deaf-blindness and intellectual disabilities. Inclusion International will be supporting this goal by delivering training to employers on how to create workplaces inclusive of people with intellectual disabilities and connecting self-advocates with job placements with supportive employers.
Under this Inclusion works Programme, BBDN will manage the employer engagement aspect, which will include relationship management of employers, on-boarding employers to the Programme and supporting employers with application of a self or guided assessment, application of the standard Inclusion Works employer disability confidence tools and approaches, arranging employers and job seekers exchange, facilitating“ First-shot” internships and job placements for job seekers with disabilities and arranging 5 job fairs in Dhaka, Khulna & Chittagong. In addition, BBDN will also arrange 03 employers’ events to encourage knowledge exchange and establish a help desk/service desk to provide on demand disability confidence and consultancy support.