Dear Editor,
Just recently, the news read that “First Lady (is) to establish business centres for Persons with Disabilities.” When I internalise this, and as I keep doing so, I feel compelled to tip my hat to First Lady Ms. Arya Ali. She is emerging as quite a fighter for the once ignored and neglected.
The details show that her dream is self-driven, as it was through a fundraiser that she was able to raise just over $13 million to commence the establishment of a business centre for persons with disabilities (PWD). I doubt if this kind of thing was ever thought about by anyone in such an open and active way.
First, I hope that the nation overall knows that “Disability and Employment” is contention at the level of the United Nations. In fact, UN data show that persons with disabilities face the same predicament everywhere. It is well documented by the organization that “persons with disabilities are frequently not considered potential members of the workforce.
Perception, fear, myth and prejudice continue to limit understanding and acceptance of disabilities in workplaces everywhere. Myths abound, including that persons with disabilities are unable to work, and that accommodating a person with a disability in the workplace is expensive. So it is this kind of negative bulwark that the First Lady is pitting herself against.
However, the same UN has also found that, contrary to these notions, many companies have found that persons with disabilities are more than capable…
There are examples of persons with disabilities being employed and bringing benefits to companies that have employed them. In this regard, my hope is that false perceptions would become a thing of the past, and that employers would give fair and equitable treatment to these potential employees. And if and when the ‘disabled’ or ‘challenged’ are qualified, they would be employed and the necessary accommodation would be made available to them at the office.
In fact, this proposed business centre, the brain child of Mrs. Ali, is in line with the UN’s thinking and the normal practice of many large corporations. The First Lady must therefore be supported, as she “…believes that these individuals must be provided with the resources, opportunities, knowledge and skills needed to increase their capacity to determine their own future and fully participate in community life.”
A second factor to ponder inheres in what the UN has been philosophising for a long time now. The word from the UN is that organisations need to hire persons with disabilities, as the majority of them want a dignified and productive life. After all, employment provides not only income, but opportunities for social participation. I add that research is abundant where the conclusion is that companies have found that by employing persons with disabilities, they have been better able to understand and serve their customers with disabilities.
This is really a big bonus. No one would ever challenge the fact that adapting services to meet the diverse needs of persons with disabilities allows businesses to develop greater flexibility, builds a reputation, and reaches out to a sizeable market. In the words of Ms. Ali, “The ability of persons with disabilities to earn a living for themselves, rather than to depend on others for a living, is a cornerstone for their economic empowerment. Experience suggests that the majority of persons with disabilities are unemployed, and often denied employment opportunities even when they have met the necessary requirements. Consequently, they have no stable income, and have to depend on family members, well-wishers and charity groups for handouts to sustain their livelihood.”
To this I say, “Simple and profound.” I hope, then, that this all-important initiative would be successful. In Guyana, there is a visible ‘disabled’ group. They are fellow human beings and Guyanese, and their rights are not fewer than, nor of less importance than, those of any other person. So, let’s rally around the First Lady.
Yours truly,
H Singh
