Livelihood Cluster led the Employers Forum
CBM Philippines together with four partner organisations under the Livelihood Cluster led the "Work Opportunity, Not Charity" - An Employers' Forum: Understanding the Benefits of Hiring Persons with Disabilities.
CBM Philippines’ Livelihood Cluster, composed of four partner organisations - Adaptive Technology for the Rehabilitation, Integration and Empowerment of the Visually Impaired (ATRIEV), Foundation for These-abled Persons, Inc. (FTI), De La Salle - College of St. Benilde - Saint Brother Jaime Hilario Institute (DLS-SBJHI), and Leonard Cheshire Disability Philippines Foundation, Inc. (LCDPFI), conducted the "Work Opportunity, Not Charity" - An Employers' Forum: Understanding the Benefits of Hiring Persons with Disabilities. More than 70 participants from People’s Organisations and Local Government Units and 24 participants from private companies joined the event held on October 19, 2017.
The forum aims to raise awareness on the issues of persons with disabilities, establish a network for persons with disabilities, and solicit the commitment of potential employers to support persons with disabilities.
Mr. Rainer Guetler, regional director of CBM Asia South East Regional Office, gave the opening remarks and explained the work of CBM and the livelihood cluster. Carmen Zubiaga, the executive director of the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), talked about “Understanding Disability, Legal Mandates on Persons with Disabilities Employment”. She encouraged the participants to open up the possibilities for persons with disabilities to create wealth and to allow for diversity and inclusion in their organisations.
A sharing was also done among persons with disabilities, who shared their experiences in finding employment opportunities, and among institutions, who shared the good practices in employing persons with disabilities. Ms. Jocelyn Garcia, the acting chairman of Workability Philippines, organisation will provide networking opportunities for economic employment. Ms. Erly Ocasiones, programme manager of CBM in the Philippines, discussed the ways forward for the cluster. She hoped that the forum gave employers an idea that persons with disabilities are worth the employment opportunities they can offer.