The “Project to Promote Employment Support for Persons with Disabilities in Sri Lanka” launched by JICA in 2021 is a catalyst for a gradual change in attitudes toward employment for persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka, where prejudice and discrimination against persons with disabilities have been deeply rooted. The project was launched in 2021 to promote employment support for persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka. On this occasion, we will discuss the significance of the project that JICA is promoting in Sri Lanka and the social issues that are being faced by people with disabilities in employment.
Disabled people who found employment at a bakery through a JICA project, the company owner, and government officials. In the back center is JICA expert Mr. Takashi Shimizu.
The fault lies with society, not with the individual.
In recent years, the concept of the “social model of disability” has become more common, in which “disability” lies not with the individual disabled person but with society, and it is society’s responsibility to eliminate such disabilities. However, many people with disabilities still have limited opportunities to participate in society, and there is a need for understanding throughout society about the importance of protecting the human rights of people with disabilities and the necessity of their participation in society.
As the concept of “diversity and inclusion” that recognizes the diversity of people and provides them with opportunities to work according to their individuality and abilities is spreading in the international community, efforts to employ people with disabilities are also making progress, but the reality is that many countries have not yet established the foundation for such efforts. Sri Lanka is one such country.
Changing attitudes about employment for people with disabilities
In Sri Lanka, prejudice and discrimination against people with disabilities were deeply rooted, and people with disabilities were considered to be “people to be protected at home. There is no adequate social welfare system in place, and since it was basically unthinkable for people with disabilities to work, a comprehensive employment support system has not yet been established. Private companies also made little progress in their efforts to employ people with disabilities.
In response to a request from the Sri Lankan government, which felt the need to promote the social participation of people with disabilities, JICA launched a technical cooperation project in November 2021 to establish an employment support system for people with disabilities.
Mr. Takashi Shimizu, who is involved in the project as a JICA expert, recalls the beginning of the project.
At the time, many people involved in the project, including Sri Lankan government officials, had prejudices against people with disabilities, and many said that people with disabilities were not interested in general employment and wanted self-produced handicrafts, etc., and that people with disabilities could not work without special vocational training. There was no system in place for people with disabilities who wanted to work to raise their voices, and there was no communication between the two sides.
JICA expert Takashi Shimizu
In order for the system established in the project to be utilized, Ms. Shimizu thought that it was first necessary to make the people concerned and society as a whole realize that many people with disabilities can work if they have appropriate support. Therefore, we first conducted a survey to understand as accurately as possible the situation of local job seekers with disabilities, government officials, companies, and related organizations. Based on the results, a program to build a cooperative system of labor and welfare administration was devised. We tried out the program in the Tokyo metropolitan area, elaborated a plan for nationwide expansion, and gradually expanded the collaboration program to the rest of the country.
The project has begun to produce steady results.
The collaboration program aims to fully coordinate the labor and welfare administrations to steadily connect people with disabilities who are willing to work and companies that are willing to hire them. In this context, workshops were also held for government officials and others to provide accurate advice to persons with disabilities and companies.
In the workshop, we tell them that it is important to match the strengths of the job seeker with what the company is looking for, regardless of whether the person has a disability or not. We also emphasize that if a person has a disability that prevents them from doing something, we do not force them to overcome it, but rather create a place where they can fully demonstrate their potential by adjusting the work environment and job content,” says Shimizu.
In June of this year, Sri Lankan government officials and others involved in the project were invited to Japan for training in Japan. The participants observed the workplaces of people with disabilities in various industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, and services, and also interacted with organizations for people with disabilities.
A delegation from Sri Lanka touring Nippon Rikagaku Kogyo Co. in June this year
It seems that the participating government officials were inspired by the stories of working people with disabilities who said, “To work is to participate in society and live life in one’s own way,” and “It is not enough to just have a job. It is encouraging to see that after returning to Japan, the participants are exchanging opinions at regular meetings across jurisdictions and communicating with people with disabilities to improve services,” says Shimizu.
Due in part to such changes in the awareness of government officials, the number of people employed in Sri Lanka has steadily increased. As of October 31, 2012, two years after the start of the project and at the halfway point until the end of the project in November 2025, 124 people from 105 companies have found employment in 18 of the 25 prefectures.
I used to feel left out of society because of my deafness, but now I feel like I am an important part of society and that I am making a contribution.
(Ms. Lakshani, who will be working at the distribution center, John Keells Logistics, from December 2022)
I have a disability in my leg, but my work has been recognized and I have more friends. I enjoy my work here so much that I want to keep working here.”
(Ajanta, who will be working at Bees Bakery, a bakery, from February 2023)
The disabled persons who have been employed have also expressed their joy at having achieved social participation.
Ajanta (right) works at the bakery. Recognizing her hard work, the company asked the welfare administrator to introduce her to other job seekers, and now a total of three handicapped people are working at the factory through the project.
Changing the acceptance system and also aiming to improve retention rates
In the first year of the project, there was an economic crisis due to the terrorist attacks in 2019, the subsequent spread of the new coronavirus, and political instability, and I was concerned about whether the project would be able to continue. We feel that it is important to accumulate one case at a time.
Currently, however, the six-month retention rate for people with disabilities is only less than 60%. There are many difficult cases, such as families not being able to understand the situation or not being able to secure a means of commuting to work,” says Shimizu.
So far, the project has created a system of labor and welfare coordination and built the first steps to connect job seekers with disabilities with companies. In the second half of the two-year project, we will promote the implementation of training for job coaches (workplace application assistants) for HR personnel in the private sector to support people with disabilities to work smoothly in the workplace. The goal is to increase the knowledge of human resource personnel in companies about the employment of people with disabilities in order to change the system for accepting people with disabilities and, in turn, to improve the retention rate.
The first job coach training for HR managers in the private sector was held in Colombo this September.
In light of the lack of a system to reflect the voices of working people with disabilities in government services, meetings with people with disabilities have begun in various regions, and in the future, Shimizu hopes to foster a group of people with disabilities who will work together with government agencies and companies to improve services. It is my pleasure to give the people of Sri Lanka the confidence that they can change society for the better with their own power.
A meeting with persons with disabilities. Mr. Shimizu is on the far right.
Protecting the Rights of People with Disabilities to Work and Building a Better Society
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities enshrines the right of persons with disabilities to work. The participation of persons with disabilities in the labor market as a valuable labor force, with appropriate support, has a variety of positive effects, changing the attitudes of not only persons with disabilities, but also their families, colleagues, businesses, and communities.
JICA will continue its efforts to promote employment for people with disabilities by working with Sri Lankan people with disabilities and government officials to create connections among people with disabilities and other related parties so that they can contribute to society by demonstrating their own abilities regardless of whether they have disabilities.
In addition to this project, JICA is promoting cooperation in various developing countries with the aim of respecting the human rights of all persons with disabilities and promoting social participation and equality. In the future, JICA will expand its efforts to other regions, such as Africa, and incorporate a disability mainstreaming perspective into other areas of cooperation, such as infrastructure construction, in order to protect the rights of people with disabilities in developing countries and help create a society that is inclusive of people with disabilities. We will continue to promote cooperation in order to build a society that is inclusive of people with disabilities while protecting their rights in developing countries.
© Source JICA
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