Bangladesh Business and Disability Network (BBDN) activities on disability inclusion

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Futuremakers: Bridging opportunities for all 

As part of the Futuremakers initiative led by Sightsavers and supported by Standard Chartered Bank Global Foundation, BBDN organized two recruitment drives in December with TEAM Group, an apparel manufacturing company and Shwapno, a supermarket chain. 31 persons with disabilities have been shortlisted for job opportunities out of 66 participating candidates. OPDs from 3 districts of Bangladesh collaborated to upskill and connect the candidates with the job opportunities.

UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD): Collaborating with OPDs to generate employment opportunities

Under the UNPRPD Project, in collaboration with ILO, BBDN is organizing a job fair for persons with disabilities. A job matching committee consisting of BBDN & it’s Resource Members (NGOs & OPDs) are working to connect candidates and employers. While the Fair is to be held in February, the pre-Fair job matching process has already led to 4 candidates being appointed at Le Meridien Hotel and 2 in Sheltech Real Estate. The engagement with Le Meridien is formalized under an MOU and serves as BBDN’s first foray into the hospitality industry.

UN-Habitat – Leave no one behind (LNOB): Addressing accessibility of the built environment

BBDN’s collaboration with the UN-Habitat & UNESCAP project titled Mainstreaming LNOB in national urban policies and programmes in South Asia, has provided an avenue to foster inclusive national urban development policies, which is a key enabler for scaling up and sustaining disability inclusion. A capacity-building workshop with key public and private stakeholders was held, in addition to a CEO level meet. The events facilitated discussions on disability-inclusive urban planning, employment and building inclusive organizations. In addition a report has been developed highlighting the best practices adopted by employers in the readymade garments sector and generating policy recommendations for ensuring greater accessibility in the workplace.