POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ON ACCELERATING INCLUSIVE EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN BANGLADESH Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire. © 2021 The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000; Internet: www.worldbank.org Some rights reserved This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because The World Bank encourages dissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Attribution—Please cite the work as follows: “World Bank. 2021. Policy Brief on Accelerating Inclusive Employment of Persons with Disabilities in Bangladesh. © World Bank.” All queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org. Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................................ 1 List of Acronyms..................................................................................................................................................3 I. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................5 II. Country Context ............................................................................................................................................7 III. Key Challenges............................................................................................................................................... 9 IV. Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................11 Design and Implementation of Policies and Programs........................................................12 Data ............................................................................................................................................................ 15 Education and Skill Building ............................................................................................................ 17 Employment...........................................................................................................................................20 Social Protection................................................................................................................................. 24 Gender...................................................................................................................................................... 26 Accessibility and Reasonable Accommodation..................................................................... 28 Access to Justice.................................................................................................................................. 31 Stigma .......................................................................................................................................................33 Policy Matrix............................................................................................................................................35 Recommendations for Accelerating Disability Inclusive Employment.....................36 V. Additional Resources and References................................................................................................ 39 Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire Acknowledgements This policy brief was prepared by a team The team would also like to express its led by Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo (Global gratitude to colleagues who generously Disability Advisor), Aneeka Rahman provided feedback and insights including (Senior Social Protection Economist), and Keiko Inoue (Practice Leader), Ayago Deepti Samant Raja (Social Development Esmubancha Wambile (Senior Economist), Specialist) along with the following core Shiro Nakata (Senior Education Economist, contributing authors (in alphabetical order): and T. M. Asaduzzaman (Education Albert Mollah (Consultant), Angela Kohama Specialist). (Consultant), and Shirin Kiani (Consultant). The authoring team has benefited from strong support and valuable contributions from Thomas Farole (Lead Economist). This brief is an output of the World Bank’s partnership with Leonard Cheshire, under the Innovation to Inclusion (i2i) program led by Leonard Cheshire and funded by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The team expresses strong gratitude to the i2i consortium and the Leonard Cheshire leadership team for their support and technical guidance. 1 Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire List of Acronyms a2i Access to Information MSME Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise CBID Community-Based Inclusive Development NGO Non-Government Organization CRPD Convention on the Rights of NMC National Monitoring Committee Persons with Disabilities OPD Organization of Persons with GDP Gross Domestic Product Disabilities ICT Information, Communication, and PDRPA Persons with Disabilities Rights Technology and Protection Act JPUF Jatiyo Protibondhi Unnayan SDG Sustainable Development Goals Foundation (National Foundation for TVET Technical and Vocational Development of Disabled Persons) Education and Training 3 Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire I. Introduction Disability inclusion is an important with disability specifically included in SDG 4 development issue that calls for (education), SDG 8 (employment), SDG 10 (reducing inequalities), SDG 11 (cities), and policies and actions that ensure SDG 17 (partnerships).1 the rights and participation of persons with disabilities in their Disability-inclusive development directly daily and civic life. responds to the World Bank’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting The United Nations Convention on shared prosperity.2 Disability and poverty the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are inherently linked, with persons with (CRPD) lays out the rights of persons with disabilities having poorer health outcomes; disabilities to full and effective participation lower education achievements; less and inclusion in society equally with others. economic participation; and higher rates The Convention views disability as a result of poverty than people without disabilities. of the interaction between an inaccessible Poverty may also increase the risk of environment and a person, rather than an disability, by leading to the onset of health inherent attribute of an individual. It adopts conditions associated with disabilities, such the “social and human rights model” over as malnutrition; low birth weight; lack of the ”medical model,” based on the fact that clean water and sanitation; and unsafe work it is society that “disables” persons with and living conditions. The development disabilities from exercising their human challenges faced by persons with rights as people . Several of the rights disabilities need to be addressed through enshrined in the CRPD are furthered in the a multisectoral and multidimensional Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), approach that entails measures to improve accessibility and equality of opportunity; 1 Information on disability-inclusive SDGs can be found here: https://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/sdgs/ disability_inclusive_sdgs.pdf 2 The World Bank Group commitments to accelerate global action for disability-inclusive development in key areas such as education, digital development, data collection, gender, post-disaster reconstruction, transport, private sector investments, and social protection: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/socialsustainability/brief/world-bank-group- commitments-on-disability-inclusion-development 5 promotes participation and inclusion; and increases respect for the autonomy and dignity of persons with disabilities. Ensuring the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities in Bangladesh remains a challenge. In order to break the cycle of disability exclusion and poverty for persons with disabilities and their households, access to work and or livelihoods is essential. This note provides a set of recommendations to support the equitable participation and inclusion of women and men with disabilities in the labor market through a variety of mechanisms, including legislative policies; education and skills development; self and wage employment; social protection; accessibility; and the importance of changing attitudes.3 3 This policy brief is based on findings from background research on inclusive employment of persons with disabilities, which provides a review of the socioeconomic situation of persons with disabilities in Bangladesh and policies and programs that would support their participation and inclusion in the labor market. 6 II. Country Context Over the past two decades, To ensure growth benefits its citizens, it Bangladesh has experienced is important that employment is inclusive for all people, including persons with steady economic growth, resulting disabilities. Approximately 7 percent of in more than 25 million people Bangladeshis live with a disability, with being lifted out of poverty.4 more women identifying as having a disability. There is a large employment This growth was made possible by gap of 19 percent between persons with the government’s robust policies and and without disabilities (35 percent vs. investments, supported by an enterprising 54 percent, respectively). Moreover, only private sector, an active non-government 5 percent of women with disabilities are sector, and development partners. The rapid employed, compared to 54 percent of poverty reduction is associated with falling men with disabilities.5 In 2008, the World fertility rates and reduced dependency Bank estimated that excluding men and ratios; better education outcomes; and women with disabilities from the labor growth in labor incomes. Earned income is a market in Bangladesh resulted in an key driver in poverty reduction, specifically annual loss of $891 million (or 1 percent of wage and self-employment, and to maintain GDP).6 Comparatively, the International this trajectory, Bangladesh must shift from Labour Organization estimates between lower productivity to higher productivity 3 to 7 percent of GDP is lost annually due jobs, including diversifying from agriculture- to excluding persons with disabilities based production toward manufacturing and throughout the global economy.7 service sector roles. 4 The World Bank. Bangladesh Poverty Assessment: Facing Old and New Frontiers in Poverty Reduction (2019). 5 Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (2015). Disability in Bangladesh: Prevalence and Pattern. Population Monograph, Volume 5. 6 The World Bank. Disability and Children at Risk Project Appraisal Document (2008) 7 Buckup, Sebastian (2009). The Price of Exclusion: The Economic Consequences of Excluding People with Disabilities from the World of Work. 7 The primary legislation governing disability rights in Bangladesh is the Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act (2013).8 The Act is well aligned with the CPRD, which Bangladesh ratified in 2007, and aims to end disability discrimination and create pathways for equitable participation of persons with disabilities.9 The Act promotes the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities and emphasizes the need to address barriers they face to equal and full participation in social, economic, and cultural activities and extends the accountability and coordination structure down to the sub-district and city levels, recognizing involvement of organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) and other civil society groups. 8 The “Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act” and “Disability Act” are used interchangeably. 9 Please see Section 4 “Legislative and Policy Framework” of the Background Report on Inclusive Employment of Persons with Disabilities for more information on the CRPD and the Disability Act. 8 III. Key Challenges While there is strong national In Bangladesh, most primary, secondary, and legislation and policy on disability tertiary education systems are not inclusive of persons with disabilities, resulting inclusion, implementation in lower education and skill levels, and has been slow due to several subsequently, lower employment rates of factors, including the lack of persons with disabilities. clear operational guidelines, Public and private infrastructure, comprehensive data, and an including buildings and transportation, accountability framework. information, and communications, remain largely inaccessible. Similarly, most social The government recently worked to rectify protection systems are not designed to this through its approval of a National enable broader participation in skills Action Plan (2019) to operationalize development and livelihood opportunities the Disability Act. However, the plan for persons with disabilities. appears stymied due to a lack of reliable or comparable national disability data and Policies to incentivize employers in has further implications for policy making, the private and public sector to employ program designing, and resource allocation. women and men with disabilities remain weak. There are few private sector Successful labor market participation of employers committed to investing in persons with disabilities is inextricably and employing persons with disabilities linked to different sectors and systems. due to a variety of factors, ranging from These include, education and skills building; stigma and misconceptions around the access to information; social protection; productivity of persons with disabilities infrastructure and transport, and access to to lack of knowledge about providing justice. reasonable accommodation.10 Despite a 10 These findings are based on a range of key informant interviews and focus group discussions with a range of stakeholders (private sector, persons with disabilities, organizations of persons with disabilities) as noted in the background report (World Bank, 2021). See also, Inclusive Futures and Institute of Development Studies, 2020; and Jalil, 2012. 9 public employment quota system, persons with disabilities account for less than 1 percent of all public sector jobs, with little to no tracking of fulfilling quotas. A recent decision to eliminate the quota system for “gazette” officers (Class I and II),11 has resulted in lack of clarity as to whether this applies to persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. Persons with disabilities still face high levels of stigma, and although attitudes are slowly changing, a low level of labor force participation remains. Noting that persons with disabilities are not a homogenous group, discrimination differs based on the type of disability. For example, persons with developmental or cognitive disabilities typically face additional barriers to accessing work compared to people with physical disabilities. The stigma and inequities faced across the spectrum of disability must be addressed in order to create equitable pathways to work for all. 11 The Bangladesh Civil Services is structured vertically into four classes (Class I-IV), with associated levels of responsibility, educational qualification, and pay range. Class I is the professional or officer class and other classes perform a variety of supporting functions. All Class I and part of Class II officers are treated as “gazette” officers, while the rest are considered “non-gazette” officers. (Taken from Recruitment and Selection Process in Bangladesh Civil Service: A Critical Overview, 2012). 10 IV. Recommendations The Government of Bangladesh can The matrix further organizes these strengthen their approach to disability recommendations across three inclusion through its policies and timeframes—short (3 years), medium governance structures. Given that only one (5 years), and long term (10 years, through in five Bangladeshis are engaged in waged 2030), aligning with the timeline for the work, with the vast majority engaged in SDGs—and with the main institutions informal self-employment, it is important responsible for each action. that policies and action plans incorporate both formal and informal pathways These recommendations are also in line to employment, and that programs with the National Action Plan, which include pro-poor initiatives as persons now requires concerted implementation with disabilities are disproportionately efforts within and across ministries, represented among those living in poverty. supported by clear lines of responsibility and adequate budget. Finally, all policies and corresponding implementation should The recommendations span center on the compounding discrimination nine focus areas: policies and faced by persons with disabilities with programs; data; education and multiple identities including women and skill building; employment; social girls with disabilities. protection; gender; accessibility and reasonable accommodation; access to justice; and stigma. 11 Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES AND PROGRAMS Mainstreaming disability as a cross-cutting issue across policies and programs allows persons with disabilities to participate equitability and equally with others in activities and services intended for the general public, such as education, health, employment, and social services. 12 1.1. The Government of Bangladesh district and sub-district levels. The should expedite establishment of the committees have been weak and unable to fulfill their mandate. Civil society and Disability Development Directorate as persons with disabilities should be actively the central authority to coordinate, involved in the committees to harness the monitor, and implement national full range of coordination and potential initiatives in line with the Disability Act impact. The NMC should also have a clear and CRPD. monitoring framework to promote and monitor implementation of legislation, policies, and practices in relation to Following the Cabinet’s endorsement disability-related employment. At the public to elevate the status of the National sector level, the framework should create Foundation for Development of Disabled and integrate key performance indicators Persons (JPUF) into a full-fledged around disability inclusion into all Directorate under the Ministry of Social ministries’ annual performance agreement Welfare, there has been slow progress in systems. the necessary administrative reforms. It is critical that the Directorate be provided with adequate technical and financial 1.3. Barriers to participation should resources to carry out its functions, be identified and addressed. including facilitating dialogue, coordination, and engagement between ministries and with civil society, including representatives Using updated and uniform disaggregated of persons with disabilities. disability data and research to understand the interaction of persons with disabilities and the environment, the government 1.2. Revitalize and strengthen should seek to revise and mainstream established committees on the rights policies, institutions, and environments, and protection of persons with and allocate budget resources that would enable programs that support labor force disabilities. participation and poverty alleviation to be accessible to and inclusive of persons with A comprehensive structure for disabilities. This should include an audit and accountability and coordination to ensure analysis of public sector quotas and private implementation of legislation and policies sector incentives to employ persons with related to persons with disabilities was disabilities to identify the constraints and established in 2001 and enhanced and barriers to be addressed. updated following ratification of the CRPD and Disabilities Act. This includes committees at the national level—National Coordination Committee and National Executive Committee on the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities and the National Monitoring Committee (NMC)—as well as committees at the 13 1.4. Program and project financing should include inclusive budgeting. Costs relating to reasonable accommodation12 and accessibility13 to ensure persons with disabilities are meaningfully included in policy making, program design, and participation must be adequately budgeted. This could include organizing and financing accessible transportation; ensuring accessibility of the building and the broader environment where activities are conducted; facilitating accessible communication (such as sign language interpretation, captioning, and other assistive technology); and consulting with participants with disabilities to understand what type of accommodation best supports their participation. Targets and quotas for proportional representation of persons with disabilities in policy making and program participation may be considered and introduced. 12 Reasonable accommodation means necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms (UN-CRPD). 13 Accessibility enables persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, on an equal basis with others, in terms of the physical environment; transportation; information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas (UN-CRPD). 14 Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire DATA Understanding the numbers of persons with disabilities and their circumstances can serve as a trigger to remove disabling barriers and provide services to allow persons with disabilities to participate. Collecting accurate and regularly updated statistical and research data is essential to inform evidence-based policy making and appropriate budget allocation. This is in line with SDG target 17.18,14 which calls for the “availability of high-quality, timely, and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location, and other characteristics relevant in national contexts.” 14 More information on SDG 17 indicators can be found here: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ globalpartnerships/ 15 2.1. Disability data collection should to be better informed when developing be standardized and mainstreamed policies and programs that meet specific needs of the population. across all major national surveys and programs and provide disaggregated data. 2.3. All program ministries should maintain updated administrative data A cost-effective approach would be to on persons with disabilities. add the Washington Group Disability Questions across national surveys, such as Most ministries and agencies maintain the National Census, Household Income a management information system that and Expenditure Survey, Labour Force allows them to keep a record of their Survey, and Demographic and Health clients and beneficiaries. However, these Survey. The Washington Group Sets of may not be disaggregated at the level of Disability Questions, have been specifically disability. Modifying records to include constructed to be efficient, low cost, and this information would allow policy easy to incorporate into ongoing data makers to understand more accurately the collections of national statistical systems, participation of persons with disabilities making them sustainable, internationally in various programs and enable individual comparable, and suitable for disaggregating longitudinal tracking over time and across and monitoring progress in attaining the services. SDGs . 2.2. Dedicated disability surveys should be carried out to gain extensive information on disability and functioning. This should include, but not be limited to, data on prevalence; health conditions associated with disability; use of and need for services; environmental factors, including on persons living in institutions and children; pay equity between women and men with and without disabilities; additional cost of having a disability, including transportation costs; costs of reasonable accommodation at work; and adequacy of social safety nets. All data should be disaggregated by disability, gender, and age to allow policy makers  16 Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire. EDUCATION AND SKILL BUILDING Education and skills development are foundational to enabling access to decent work. However, youth with disabilities often lack access to formal education or to opportunities to develop their skills—missing out during the primary and secondary school years, resulting in exclusion from vocational or technical training in later years. 17 As the government continues to barriers in accessing general education build on its success of increased . This could include accelerated pre- vocational training courses and expanding coverage, access, and gender pre-training to build basic knowledge and parity in education, it also skills of persons with disabilities. The needs to focus on an inclusive government may also want to consider system that aims to close the waivers on entry fees and provision of education gap for learners with stipends for persons with disabilities to disabilities across all age groups minimize dropout. Investments should also be made to ensure physical access and between girls and boys. This to classrooms and dormitories; provide would require investments in accessible e-learning platforms, including physical accessibility, curricula assistive devices, accessible technology, and materials, and teacher training and content; and shaping attitudes and on inclusive education. the capacity of trainers to impart skills to persons with disabilities. The recommendations in this section are more specific in relation to vocational and skill building opportunities and aim to 3.2. Differentiated gender barriers support Bangladesh to meet SDG indicator must be addressed. 4.5, which includes eliminating gender disparities between women and men The government should seek to ensure with disabilities in vocational training.15 equal opportunities for women and men A separate analysis on access to education with disabilities in accessing TVET. Efforts would help to inform policy and programs should be made to reach out specifically on disability-inclusive primary, secondary, to women with disabilities, since they may and tertiary levels. be less likely to enroll and ensure women- friendly facilities. Course offerings should 3.1. Barriers of access to and be both gender-sensitive and accessible and targeted to the specific needs of women retention in technical and vocational with disabilities. education and training (TVET) should be reviewed and addressed. 3.3. The range of course offerings should be market responsive. Recognizing that completion of the eighth standard at the secondary level is mandatory for entrance into TVET institutions, Courses offered through TVET and the government should actively seek alternative forms of training should be opportunities to support inclusive education expanded to encompass market demands at the secondary level and create affirmative because there may be an underlying or equitable entrance requirements for assumption that persons with disabilities persons with disabilities who may face are capable of only a few occupations. 15 More information on SDG 4 indicators can be found here: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/ 18 The range of activities for improving employment prospects for persons with disabilities should be looked into, such as soft skills, training in technology, reskilling, and upskilling programs, which target workers already in a specific field but that need to consistently update their skills to remain relevant in their field. 3.4. TVET programs managed by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) should be assessed to meet a minimum standard and scaled up. The government should assess good performing programs, and those meeting the minimum 5 percent quota, that are managed by NGOs and OPDs, to scale up such programs or key features that have worked in drawing in participation of persons with disabilities. 19 Photo Credit: Access Bangladesh Foundation. EMPLOYMENT Persons with disabilities are disadvantaged in the labor market due to various factors, such as lack of access to education and training; the nature of the workplace; or employers’ perceptions of disability. Persons with disabilities may also need flexibility in work scheduling to allow adequate time to prepare and travel to work, and to deal with health concerns. 20 In Bangladesh, approximately disabilities to each other and to potential four out of five Bangladeshis are employers. In addition, the government should facilitate job fairs, especially for self-employed, with more persons female and disadvantaged trainees who may with disabilities entering self- require more specialized career support. employment rather than wage To facilitate matching skills to jobs, a employment. centralized data management system may be set up through training institutions that Policies related to disability-inclusive contains records of graduate trainees with employment must also encompass measures and without disabilities, including skills and to ease constraints and provide growth qualifications, and that allows graduates opportunities for the self-employed. to update their personal information and employment status. Article 27 of the CRPD recognizes the role of government to safeguard and promote the realization of the right to work by taking 4.2. The digital economy offers steps to provide access and opportunities employment opportunities for for decent work. Similarly, SDG target 8.5 aims to “achieve full and productive persons with disabilities. employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and Some of these jobs are not location-specific persons with disabilities, and equal pay and only require on-the-job training, such for work of equal value”16 by 2030. The as developing and selling information, recommendations in this section focus communication, and technology (ICT) on mechanisms that could stimulate and software and hardware or working in call strengthen employment opportunities for centers and may be more conducive for persons with disabilities. persons with disabilities to participate. High-tech parks being developed in Bangladesh also provide an excellent 4.1. The government should facilitate opportunity for inclusive employment and mechanisms that would allow the government should make the necessary matching employment opportunities investments to ensure these parks are with job seekers. accessible and inclusive in terms of their physical environment and communications and ICT accessibility. The government Lack of information on job opportunities should invest in bridging the digital divide and prospective employees who may by supporting digital skills and ensuring be qualified to meet the requirements affordability and accessibility. Women is a constraint on employment. Private with disabilities should be targeted and job matching services and training encouraged to train for ICT related jobs. institutions can play an important role in providing national and local job networks and information that link persons with 16 Information about indicator 8.5 can be found here: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal8 21 4.3. The government should invest disabilities: this would involve the combined in economic inclusion programs efforts of persons with disabilities; their families; organizations; communities; and tailored to the needs of persons with government and nongovernmental health, disabilities. education, vocational, social, and other services.18 Individuals from low-income households face multiple simultaneously binding constraints that either limit their ability to 4.5. Creating affirmative procurement become employed (wage or self-employed) programs that emphasize supplier or restrict them to low-return economic diversity can support businesses activities. This is further compounded for run by, or that hire persons with persons with disabilities, who may have disabilities. faced exclusion from obtaining soft and technical skills, lack of mentorship, and lack of networks necessary for job matching. For These programs incentivize procurement or those that wish to become self-employed, business-to-business transactions between absence of business management knowledge disability-owned microenterprises and and constrained access to finance are disability-owned or disability-inclusive significant barriers that impede success. medium-to-large enterprises, both for An economic inclusion program approach the government and the private sector. identifies the combination of services This should ideally come with supply side that need to be provided and then flexibly technical assistance to support micro, provides these services tailored to the needs small, and medium enterprises (MSME) to of the individual. meet market requirements. In addition, the government can consider preferential or reserved access to government procurement 4.4. Targeted employment programs opportunities for persons with disabilities can make an important contribution and other vulnerable groups.19 to the employment of people with severe disabilities. Community-based Inclusive Development (CBID)17 initiatives may be a means of social and economic integration for persons with 17 Community-based inclusive development was formerly known as community-based rehabilitation, or CBR. 18 Bhutan’s National Policy for Persons with Disabilities promotes a family approach to livelihood, whereby the government provides training programs that are designed to build the skills of both persons with disabilities and their family members. Other CBID good practice can be found in ILO’s good practice guide. 19 This is being implemented in Kenya through the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) Program, which facilitates enterprises owned by women, youth and persons with disabilities to be able to participate in Government opportunities based on the legal requirement that 30 percent of Government procurement opportunities be set aside specifically for enterprises owned by these groups. As a result, the program aims at empowering these groups by providing opportunities to do business with Government (https://agpo.go.ke/pages/about-agpo). 22 4.6. The private sector should be 4.7. Dispel misconceptions about encouraged to hire, mentor, retain, the ability of persons with disabilities and promote persons with disabilities. to work. It is important that the government work Ignorance, stigma and prejudice can be on both supply and demand sides, by factors in excluding persons with disabilities preparing persons with disabilities for work from opportunities for employment while also making employers and work or promotion in work. In addition to conditions more inclusive. The Disabilities misguided perceptions, employers also Act outlines tax breaks for businesses that lack information about inclusive policies, employ persons with disabilities, but this talent sourcing pipelines, accessibility, practice can become ineffective, de facto, and reasonable accommodation solutions. due to cumbersome and bureaucratic Aside from financial incentives, innovative systems. The incentive regime and practice interventions, such as using industry should be reviewed to ensure it serves leaders who can demonstrate the value of the purpose for which it was designed. As a diverse workforce, and diversity training MSMEs account for close to 98 percent programs are required to change mindsets of enterprises in Bangladesh and are the on disability and promote positive attitudes largest source of non-farm employment, about disability in the workplace. inclusive employment policies will need to consider the specific support these firms may require—to participate in growth opportunities as disabled-owned firms and to be incentivized to hire employees with disabilities. 23 Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire. SOCIAL PROTECTION Poverty and disability are mutually reinforcing and contribute to increased vulnerability and exclusion. Well-designed social protection programs have the potential to improve the welfare of≈persons with disabilities by alleviating poverty and vulnerability and ensuring access to food, health education, and other support services; enhancing employability; and fostering social inclusion and civic participation 24 Article 28 of the CRPD recognizes the right 5.2. Programs and projects linking of persons with disabilities to an adequate social protection with livelihood and standard of living and to social protection, income generating activities should and requires governments to take measures to ensure they receive equal access to be made inclusive for persons with mainstream social protection programs and disabilities. services and specific programs and services for disability-related needs and expenses. Besides programs targeted to disabilities, persons with disabilities should have access 5.1. The government should ensure to mainstream programs that provide a phased, intensive, and holistic package adequate budget allocation to of support comprising elements of social programs for persons with disabilities. protection, livelihood promotion, financial inclusion, and social empowerment. See also In FY2020, expenditure on disability- recommendation 4.3 on economic inclusion related programs amounted to 0.3 percent programs. of the total social protection expenditure. Coverage and transfer amounts should 5.3. The government should invest be increased so the poorest and most vulnerable members can benefit. in information centers to improve access to information and services Faced with COVID-19 and other future and strengthen coordination between shocks, programs should increase benefits– service providers. through the expansion of cash transfers to in-kind food and non-food item distribution—to cater to the higher cost Union Digital Centers and government- of living and help cushion the short-term run Disability Support Centers should loss in income, and reduce the adoption be strengthened to ensure people can of negative coping mechanisms, such as access information on social protection, cutting down on meals. Special attention employment programs, and other social should also be paid to ensure those who may services in one place. To complement these have been left out of coverage, whether due centers, efforts should also be made to to not having a disability card, or those who ensure information reaches all persons with have recently fallen into poverty due to the disabilities (ranging from those with limited pandemic, have access to programs designed mobility to people with sensory disabilities), to address their particular vulnerability. including through door-to-door initiatives Some disabilities may also imply extra and use of technology. costs that need to be covered, such as health services, medication, help with daily These recommendations reflect measures activities, and assistive devices. The absence that are cross-cutting across all domains of benefits to cover these costs may lead and should be ensured to enable inclusivity. to deterioration in the person’s health or is offset by a reduction in other necessary expenses. Adequacy levels should therefore also be mindful of reflecting the extra costs of disability. 25 Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire. GENDER Women with disabilities in Bangladesh are almost twice as likely to be excluded from skills development and work opportunities compared to men with disabilities or women without disabilities. Enabling women to acquire skills—domestic, technical, or professional—is essential to help them break out of the cycle of poverty and vulnerability. It is imperative that all policies and programs seek to be inclusive of women with disabilities, who face intersectional, compounding barriers to discrimination because of their gender and disability. 26 6.1. The government should review 6.2. The government should and revise legislation, policies, and explore partnerships with industry programs to support equitable associations and networking pathways for women with disabilities. platforms to enhance outreach and coordination. Quota systems in the sphere of education, training, and employment should be Formal and informal associations and reviewed to understand their role and networks are an important channel for performance in achieving gender parity. empowering women with disabilities to have Women with disabilities are more excluded their voices heard, while also supporting than their male peers and may require them to build social networks. Collaborating additional support and targeting to be with the Women’s Chamber of Commerce job ready. Training for women should and Industry, Bangladesh Business and encompass a broad range of skills, including Disability Network, and women-focused core skills for work and an emphasis on organizations and OPDs can help identify building confidence. Skills development needs and priorities, advocate for women- should not be limited only to traditionally focused priorities, and advance solutions for female-dominant roles, such as tailoring change and collective awareness. and food preparation, but also explore new areas such as information technology, which offers other advantages, as referred to in recommendation 4.2. Finally, as part of the broader objective of promoting female labor force participation, ancillary support, in the form of access to childcare, safe transportation, and female-friendly spaces, should be ensured. The Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs should also take a lead role in coordinating various initiatives under other ministries to ensure they encourage intersectional approaches that create equitable, tailored, and affirmative pathways for women with disabilities. 27 Photo Credit: Access Bangladesh Foundation. ACCESSIBILITY AND REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION Access to public infrastructure is a critical component in enabling persons with disabilities to participate in civic life and is essential for education, healthcare, and labor market participation. Lack of access to the built environment—such as transport, buildings, and spaces—means persons with disabilities are likely to be excluded from services and social contact. 28 On the other hand, inaccessible 7.2. With information and information and communication communication moving increasingly reinforces the digital divide and online, digital technologies present an creates barriers to inclusion for unprecedented opportunity to include persons disabilities. persons with disabilities. The CRPD mandates accessibility, The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this mobility, and reasonable accommodation transition and it would be essential to throughout its Articles20 as each domain is ensure persons with disabilities are not left interconnected: persons with disabilities behind because technologies, products, cannot benefit fully from improvements in content, and services are not created with one domain if others remain inaccessible. accessibility in mind. Partnering with global organizations with expertise in advancing 7.1. The government should focus digital accessibility, , which supports its efforts on implementing existing policy makers with capacity building programs, policy development tools, and policies that enable the inclusion of benchmarking, Access to Information (a2i) persons with disabilities. should conduct digital accessibility audits to identify current gaps in accessing web-based Following enactment of the Persons services for persons with disabilities and put with Disabilities Rights and Protection forward national guidelines to promote the Act (2013), more recent policies have accessibility of virtual environments, also been prepared or revised to incorporate covering issues of affordability. disability-inclusive provisions, although implementation lags. The updated National Building Code was approved in late 2020 and gazette notification issued in February 2021. The updated Code includes principles of universal design21 to promote an enabling and accessible environment from both infrastructure and information aspects. A timebound action plan should be prepared to modify existing public buildings, prioritizing education institutions, healthcare facilities, and government offices to be accessible and inclusive. 20 Articles 9 (Accessibility), 19 (Living Independently and Being Included in Community), 20 (Personal Mobility), and 27 (Work and Employment) are examples of ensuring accessibly, mobility, and reasonable accommodation, although these concepts are espoused throughout the Articles. 21 Universal design means the design of products, environments, programs and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design (CRPD). 29 7.3. The government should establish 7.4. The government should a set of minimum standards for partner with industry and employer accessible transport, including associations to create guidelines on grievance mechanism system for how to adapt the workplace to be reporting and penalties for lack inclusive of persons with disabilities. of compliance. Inclusivity and accessibility in public transportation Translating national policy on reasonable should be a key priority, particularly in accommodation into practice requires urban development planning. sector-specific guidelines on how to practically adapt the workplace across various sectors for persons with different Exclusion from access to transport is types of disabilities. This would also include a predominant obstacle to personal assistive devices and special equipment independence; finding and retaining and will require harnessing industry and employment; participating in economic technical expertise and the participation activities; receiving an education; emergency of persons with disabilities. In addition, evacuation; and social participation. The resources should be provided— in the form government may consider incentives of technical assistance23 and/or financial for private sector transport operators, support—that would help employers similar to those offered to employers, build inclusive workplace cultures by based on meeting specific inclusive accommodating persons with disabilities transportation standards. Over the longer entering the workplace and those who may term, the government should invest in key acquire disability during their employment. transportation systems to be more inclusive Combining reasonable accommodation and accessible for persons with disabilities, and accessibility support will ensure that bearing in mind differences between urban, the general workplace environment is as peri-urban, and rural needs.22 accessible as possible, while providing the individualized support that a person may need to access the workplace. 22 In urban areas, the focus should be on establishing low or no cost inner-city transportation to enable persons with disabilities to move between job sites and their homes easily. For rural areas, the focus should on transport that allows individuals to move themselves, and their goods/services between villages, especially to and from central market hubs or trading centers. 23 The Job Accommodation Network and Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion provide good examples of government-run technical support on reasonable accommodation and accessibility for employers, employees, jobseekers and entrepreneurs. 30 Photo Credit: Access Bangladesh Foundation. ACCESS TO JUSTICE Ensuring equal access to justice for all persons with disabilities contributes to the enjoyment of their rights, their legal empowerment, and equality before the law. In Bangladesh, persons with disabilities experience disproportionate levels of discrimination and therefore require more protection from the law. Barriers to full access to justice still exist due to laws that may limit their legal capacity and equal recognition, inheritance, or equal opportunities in education and employment on the basis of disability, in particular intellectual disabilities. 31 In addition, inaccessibility of courts, police 8.3. The judicial system—including stations, and legal documents; and lack of courts, police stations, other legal disability awareness of legal officers are services, and documents—should barriers that prevent equal access to justice. Articles 12 and 13 of the CRPD stipulate that be made accessible for persons with persons with disabilities must benefit from disabilities. equal recognition before the law to exercise their fundamental rights, and that they are Physical, information, and communication afforded equal access to justice when their accessibility and affordability of legal rights are violated. services and institutions are essential to ensure persons with disabilities have 8.1. The government should recourse to the law for any discrimination or violation of their rights. Universal design strengthen mechanisms for reporting guidelines under the National Building discrimination. Code should be followed to ensure physical premises are accessible, while the provision In its Initial Report under Article 35 of the of basic legal support and legal aid may CRPD, the Bangladesh National Human accommodate financial burdens. Training on Rights Commission was mandated to disability inclusion should also be provided ensure the rights and privileges of persons to all law enforcement officers. with disabilities until a separate Disability Rights Commission is established. The National Human Rights Commission should be strengthened through orientation and training on potential discrimination and recourse measures to cater to persons with disabilities, and supported to report on the CRPD. 8.2. The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) should expand its inspection checklist forms to cover disability-inclusive measures as part of its standard inspections. Over the longer term, the government should broaden DIFE’s mandate to carry out periodic surveys to inspect accommodation and accessibility measures by those firms benefiting from disability incentives and to collect feedback from the employees on their experience. 32 Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire STIGMA Negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities remain as significant barriers in all domains. Stigma and discrimination contribute significantly to labor market exclusion of women and men with disabilities and addressing this—at the level of government, institutions, employers, and families—is key to building an inclusive system. 33 9.1. The government should partner with OPDs and professional associations to run public information campaigns to dispel stigma around disability. The campaigns should focus on information dissemination and awareness raising, both general and targeted to particular audiences. Involving the media is vital to the success of these campaigns and to ensuring the dissemination of positive stories about persons with disabilities and their families, which the disability community also needs to expand efforts to enhance awareness of the presence, capacities, and potential of persons with disabilities. 9.2. The government should introduce mandatory training for all government officials on disability inclusion. The training should be part of the standard civil service curriculum, and in induction training for all government employees. This should also include specialized training, such as disability training among healthcare, education, and social assistance providers, and legal service providers and legal officers, on specific needs of persons with disabilities, the importance of accessibility, and how to strengthen the quality of services. 34 Photo Credit: Habiba Nowrose, Leonard Cheshire POLICY MATRIX 35 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACCELERATING DISABILITY INCLUSIVE EMPLOYMENT Please note that the numbering below corresponds to the numbering of recommendations in the text above, within the “Policy Brief on Accelerating Inclusive Employment of Persons with Disabilities in Bangladesh.” For more information about a recommendation, please refer to that numbered section within the policy brief text. Short-term (3 years) Medium-term (5 years) Long-term (10 years) Responsible institutions Policies and programs 1.1.  Expedite establish- 1.3.  Establish a clear mon- Continued monitoring All government bodies, ment of the Disability itoring framework to of implementation, Committees on Rights Development Direc- promote and monitor assessing key gaps and and Protection of torate. implementation of gathering beneficiary Persons with Disabilities, 1.2.  Revitalize and legislation, policies and feedback, with necessary Cabinet Division, MoF, strengthen commit- practice in relation to corrective action. MoSW, PMO, NHRI/ tees established for disability-related em- NHRC? the rights and protec- ployment, including key tion of persons with performance indicators disabilities and hold in ministries’ annual regular meetings. performance agreement systems. Data 2.1.  Standardize and 2.2.  Develop and administer BBS, MoSW, SID, all mainstream disability dedicated disability program ministries data collection across surveys. National Statistical national surveys using 2.3.  Program ministries to Bureau or its equivalent? Washington Group maintain administrative Questions. data on persons with disabilities. Education & Skill Building  eview barriers 3.1 & 3.2. R 3.3.  Update course offer- Invest in all tiers of the BMET, DTE, MoE, on access to ings to reflect market education system to MoWCA, MoYS, NSDA, TVET, with fo- demand, gender needs ensure that persons NGO/OPD cus on gender and aspirations of and with disabilities are barriers. suitability for persons supported in skills 3.4.  Assess programs car- with disabilities. building from early ried out by non-gov- years through the ernment institutions. employment life cycle. 36 Short-term (3 years) Medium-term (5 years) Long-term (10 years) Responsible institutions Employment 4.1.  Develop and expand 4.2.  Expand opportunities Ensure longer term BCC, BSCIC, DTE, HTPA, job matching services. for persons with disabil- analysis and evaluation MoF, MoI, MoInfo, MoLE, 4.6. Review incentive ities to engage in digital of employment MoLGRDC, MoPTIT, regime and practices economy. participation to support MoSW, MoWCA for private sector 4.3.  Develop and expand economic participation employers to hire economic inclusion across all types of persons with disabil- programs, including disabilities. ities. special employment 4.7.  Develop and dissem- programs for those inate information with severe disabilities. campaign for chang- 4.5.  Develop and expand af- ing attitudes at the firmative procurement workplace. programs. 6.1. R eview programs and 6.2 policies so they sup- & 7.4. Create partnerships port gender equity with industry associ- objectives. ations for network- ing opportunities and creating sector specific guidelines for reasonable accommodation and accessibility. Social Protection 5.1 Ensure adequate 5.2 Livelihood programs Ensure longer term a2i, Cabinet Division, budget allocation to made inclusive of per- analysis and evaluation MoF, MoPTIT, MoSW, programs for persons sons with disabilities. of the impacts of social MoWCA, MoDMR and with disabilities. 5.3 Strengthen information protection programs on other social protection and support centers to economic participation implementing ministries improve access for per- of persons with sons with disabilities. disabilities Accessibility and Reasonable Accommodation 7.1 Prepare timebound 7.2  Conduct digital ac- 7.1  Modify public build- a2i, BCC, City action plan for imple- cessibility audits and ings, with priorities Corporations, MOE, mentation of National prepare guidelines to on education insti- MoHFW, MoHPW, Building Code 2020 promote accessibility tutions, healthcare MoLGRDC, MoLJPA, and modification of of virtual environments, facilities and govern- MoPTIT, MoP, MoPME, existing priority infra- also covering issues of ment buildings. MoRTB structure. affordability. 7.3  Invest in key trans- 7.3  Create incentive regime portation systems to for private sector trans- be inclusive of per- port operators to ensure sons with disabilities. transportation facilities are accessible for per- sons with disabilities. 37 Short-term (3 years) Medium-term (5 years) Long-term (10 years) Responsible institutions Access to Justice 8.1.  Strengthen National 8.1.  Expand DIFE’s DIFE, MOLE, NHRC Human Rights Com- mandate to inspect mission to respond to accommodation discrimination against and accessibility persons with disabili- measures in firms ties and report on the benefiting from CRDP. disability-related 8.1.  Ensure disability-in- incentives and/or tax clusive indicators breaks. in DIFE’s inspection checklist. Stigma 9.1.  Run public informa- 9.2.  Introduce mandatory MoCA, MoInfo, MoPA tion campaigns to training for all gov- dispel stigma around ernment officials on disability. disability inclusion. List of Acronyms BBS: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics; MoLJPA: Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary BCC: Bangladesh Computer Council; Affairs; BSCIC: Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries MoP: Ministry of Planning; Corporation; MoPA: Ministry of Public Administration; DIFE: Department for Inspection of Factories and MoPME: Ministry of Primary and Mass Education; Establishments; MoPTIT: Ministry of Post, Telecom and Information HTPA: Hi Tech Park Authority; Technology; MoCA: Ministry of Cultural Affairs; MoRTB: Ministry of Roads, Transport and Bridges; MoE: Ministry of Education; MoSW: Ministry of Social Welfare; MoF: Ministry of Finance; MoWCA: Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs; MoHFW: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; MoYS: Ministry of Youth and Sports; MoHPW: Ministry of Housing and Public Works; NHRC: National Human Rights Commission; MoI: Ministry of Industries; NSDA: National Skills Development Authority; MoInfo: Ministry of Information; PMO: Prime Minister’s Office; MoLE: Ministry of Labour and Employment; SID: Statistics and Informatics Division. 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