Employment prospects for people with disabilities rise by 22 percent
There are 1.3 billion people with disabilities globally, who are consistently more likely to experience both monetary and multidimensional poverty. They are often excluded from education and decent work, and face additional costs of disability that are insufficiently addressed through social protection and other programmes. Even then, the employment prospects for young people with disabilities have increased by 22 percent.
On the first day of the International Conference on Economic Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities—organized by BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and Programme for Evidence to Inform Disability Action (PENDA)—discussants and speakers stressed the need for high-quality evidence in low- and middle-income countries to identify strategies to reduce poverty among people with disabilities.
This international conference commenced on Sunday, January 18th, at the BRAC Inn in Mohakhali, Dhaka.
In her keynote address, Dr. Morgon Banks, Associate Professor of Disability Research at the International Centre for Evidence in Disability (ICED), LSHTM, stressed that excluding adults with disabilities from the labour force results in economic losses of between 1 and 8% of GDP across 12 countries. Youth with disabilities in Bangladesh are five times more likely to be out of school and work compared to youth without disabilities. However, reliable evidence in Bangladesh and globally on what works to improve employment outcomes for persons with disabilities remains extremely limited.
Dr. Banks emphasized the importance of research and training programs in expanding opportunities for impoverished and unemployed youth with disabilities. Drawing on evidence from BRAC’s STAR+ programme, she showed that participation increased the likelihood of employment among young people with disabilities by 22%.
In the absence of access to robust evidence, efforts by governments, practitioners, and donors to promote economic inclusion for people with disabilities are less likely to achieve a meaningful and cost-effective impact. This underscores the need to shift how inclusion is understood and practiced.
“Inclusivity is not about defining people by what they lack; it is about recognising where they can contribute. And when barriers or gaps are appropriately addressed, their ability to contribute grows even further,” said Dr. Syed Ferhat Anwar, Vice Chancellor of BRAC University.
In her remarks, Tahera Jabeen, Social Development Adviser at the British High Commission, said, “The UK is committed to global leadership in disability‑inclusive development. Through the Programme for Evidence to Inform Disability Action (PENDA), we are investing in high-quality evidence that partners and policymakers can use to strengthen access to education, skills, and livelihoods for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh and around the world.”
The two-day-long conference brought together academics and practitioners working on disability and economic inclusion, as well as people with disabilities and their representative organisations, policymakers, and donors. The conference presented high-quality evidence and strategies on how to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty among people with disabilities, and to advance cross-sector collaboration on the issue among international and national stakeholders.
