Videos

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The ILO Global Business and Disability Network’s side event “Businesses driving a sustainable future: disability-inclusive employment and ESG” at the 17th Conference of States Parties (COSP17) to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – co-sponsored by the United Nations Global Compact and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) – highlighted latest good corporate practices as they relate to the employment of persons with disabilities in companies’ sustainability efforts, including as part of wider Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies. Microsoft hosted the event in their New York offices and was represented by Rylin Rodgers, Disability Policy Advisor, Microsoft.

Yasin Samatar, ILO Senior Multilateral Cooperation Specialist, speaks at the 17th session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP17) to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), in the Roundtable 3 “Promoting the rights of persons with disabilities to hashtag decent work and sustainable livelihood” on the achievements and plans of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN).

Tabie Kioko, Diversity Equity and Inclusion Lead at Safaricom – one of the largest telecommunications providers in East Africa – presents the Kenya Business and Disability Network (KBDN), of which Safaricom is its Chair. The KBDN is a joint initiative by the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) and the ILO Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN), with technical support by the international disability NGO Sightsavers. KBDN is one of the more than forty National Business and Disability Networks that pertain to the ILO GBDN and aims to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in workplaces countrywide. At the 17th Conference of States Parties (COSP17) to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Government of the Republic of Kenya organised the side event “Redefining the Future: Decent work and sustainable livelihood for persons with disabilities”, in which Safaricom was represented by Tabie Kioko.

As part of the Zero Project Conference 2023, the ILO Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN)'s Self-Assessment tool was presented in a fireside chat. Susan Scott-Parker, the tool's content architect, Neil Milliken, 2023-24 chair of the ILO GBDN representing Atos, and Jürgen Menze, coordinator of the ILO GBDN, discussed how the tool benefits companies of all sizes and industries when it comes to improving their disability inclusion performance worldwide. Aligned with the Ten Principles of the ILO GBDN Charter and the universal principles that shape the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the free-of-charge ILO GBDN Self-Assessment enables any local business, in any country, to set priorities for action as they set out to define and deliver the best practice that benefits both business and persons with disabilities.

Adil Hasan Ali Farghal, Produce Service Associate at Panda Retail Company - part of the Savola Group, a company member of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network - is a valued employee with Down syndrome. In an inclusive work environment with supportive co-workers and managers, Adil is enabled to make his contributions at the company.

The ILO Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN)'s annual conference took place virtually. During the conference, two company members were welcomed officially - Nestlé and SUEZ Group - and an additional four companies declared their commitment to joining the GBDN -Sopra Steria, Schneider Electric, Salesforce and LVMH.

Further, the conference featured presentations of long-time GBDN members of their 2020 activities. GBDN partners highlighted that the inclusion of people with disabilities is more important than ever - and possible.

The conference highlight was the adoption of the GBDN Declaration that all GBDN members committed to. It reinforces their commitment to make disability inclusion a priority now - and after the pandemic.

Read the ILO press release on the conference here. 

The Secretariat of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network took part in the online conference "Road to employment for Persons with Disabilities", 4-5 May 2020, organised by the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) and L’ADAPT.

Caroline Casey presents "The Valuable 500" campaign and shares her experience in working with private sector and the important opportunities that are coming with it.

Victor Calise presents the work that he leads as New York Commissioner to promote the employment of persons with disabilities in New York City, also within the City itself as an employer.

Ramón Pueyo highlights some of the key findings of the publication “Making the Future of Work inclusive of persons with disabilities” which was launched on 21 November 2019.

Yazmine Laroche presents her work on promoting disability inclusion in the Canadian federal Government and also discusses the idea of establishing a network of public sector entities working on disability inclusion.

Carla Bonino presents the work of Disability Hub Europe, an EU-funded project managed by the ONCE Foundation which focuses on promoting disability inclusion as part of sustainability.

Fernando Riaño presents examples of the work of the ONCE Social Group and shares his view on the way forward towards a more inclusive Future of Work.

Kate Nash provides information on the key role that Employee Resource Groups play to promote disability inclusion in the private sector.

MSD, member of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN), is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. With support from the GBDN, MSD aims to promote initiatives for the inclusion of workers with disabilities in the company.

Murteza Rafi Kahn, Co-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Bangladesh Business and Disability Network which is a member of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network, on the business case of disability inclusion.

Manique Gunaratne, Manager Specialised Training and Disability Resource Centre of The Employers' Federation of Ceylon which is a member of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network, on the business case of disability inclusion.

Legrand, member of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN), is a multinational company with more than 35,000 staff and locations in more than 80 countries. With support from the GBDN, Legrand aims to promote initiatives for the inclusion of workers with disabilities beyond the current 20 locations in which these initiatives already exist.

Mark Bell, Professor of Laws at Trinity College Dublin, explains how reasonable adjustments at the workplace enable employees to bring their full professional potential to work and thereby promote diversity and inclusion as well as contribute to business success.

The ILO Global Business and Disability Network consists of multinational enterprises, employers’ organizations, business networks on disability, academia and international non-governmental organizations. Its mission is to raise business awareness about the positive impact of including persons with disabilities in the workplace and support employers in becoming more confident on disability issues.

Yves Veulliet, Global Disability & Inclusion Program Manager at IBM, shares his view on the benefits of employing people with disabilities and key recommendations for companies for becoming more inclusive.

Improving business practices for employees with disabilities is the “smart” thing to do because it leads to improvements for the entire workforce!

People with disabilities represent an untapped pool of skills that can enhance business.

However, people with disabilities frequently face greatbarriers to work that go beyond physical obstacles -- stereotypes and wrong assumptions often prevent this significant chunk of the world population from contributing to the economy.

This animation was jointly produced by the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Global Business and Disability Network and the ILO/International Finance Corporation (IFC) Better Work partnership.