Employers from both the private and public sector in the Western Region congregated in Kisumu to learn how best they could make their processes inclusive to facilitate employability of Persons with Disabilities. Through FKE Human Resource Forum, various partners including the Central Organization of Trade Unions Kenya ( COTU-K), the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), National Employment Authority (NEA), Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK) and the National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPWDs) took participants through inclusive training. This covered inclusive language, provisions of the law and its implication for businesses,
Dr. Margaret Oloo, the President Western Kenya Regional Branch urged the public and private sector employers in the region to honor the call to reserve 5% of jobs for disabled persons.
FKE aims to create a safe space for employers to discuss, champion inclusion of Persons with Disabilities & develop inclusive processes because employment of persons with Disability makes business sense. “We are championing that Persons with Disability are employed on merit because it makes business sense. To achieve this, we must create a safe space for employers to discuss this and make their processes inclusive and accommodative.” Mrs. Jacqueline Mugo the Executive Director, FKE
This is the time for workers and employers to come together and establish a pipeline of initiatives, interventions and dialogue that translates into the increased employment of persons with disabilities, she said.
COTU noted that in their collectively bargaining role, they factor in the conversation about responsible inclusion is integrated in the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA’s) to improve the working conditions of PWDs in employment. “Workers living with disability need to enjoy decent work as it should be, we are therefore working closely with our members to ensure that Persons with Disability gain meaningful employment.” Mrs. Dorcas, COTU- Kenya
Since persons living with disabilities require a National Council Disabilities identification Card, Leonard Cheshire have supported partners to come up with PWDs Career Portal and are therefore working closely with Safaricom to ensure that candidates are able to access the portal offline. “PWDs are hardest hit hard with unemployment, we are therefore excited about the collaboration between FKE, COTU and NCPWD as it will be critical in unlocking the challenges that have hindered PWDS from accessing employment opportunities. “ Daniel Masyuki, Leonard Cheshire
The National Council of Persons with Disability developed a Career Portal to ensure that Kenya wins the battle towards enabling persons with disability to join the workforce.
Our duty therefore as corporates is to leave no one behind, especially persons with disabilities who were disadvantaged even before the pandemic. Through the i2i project, the Federation has also held two similar capacity building forums with employers in Mombasa and Nairobi. This has facilitated the placement into employment for over 100 Persons with Disability.
Other stakeholders in this initiative include; Leonard Cheshire, Action Network for Disability (Andy) and CBM International.