The businesses embracing disability inclusion

Sightsavers partners with companies around the world to help them foster more inclusive working environments for people with disabilities.

Through the Inclusive Futures Initiative Work stream, Sightsavers has helped corporate teams in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda to recruit and support employees with disabilities in a range of professions. Here, they share their success stories.

Kenya

East African Breweries Limited, based in Kenya, was passionate about pioneering new disability inclusive practices in the workplace and looked to Sightsavers for guidance. “One of the challenges we had before was that we didn’t know how to do it,” says Eric Kiniti, corporate relations director at the company. Implementing changes such as new recruitment practices and conducting accessibility audits of the office can be tricky for businesses to navigate without the experience and expertise behind them – and this is where Sightsavers comes in.

“But now we’ve found a credible partner who’s done this before, we’re very excited that we are able to roll this out,” Eric adds. “They bring expertise that we don’t have… I think it’s a very valued partnership.”

The Inclusive Futures Work stream is helping to make practical changes to the way companies train and hire people with disabilities. Since 2018, the programme has been testing innovative ways to help more people access employment in four countries: Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. The programme works with private sector companies to help them become more attractive workplaces for people with disabilities and more confident in hiring and training employees with different types of impairment.

Munyori Evans, head of human resources for Standard Chartered bank in Nairobi, is passionate about improving diversity among his staff. Partnering with Sightsavers brought the knowledge and experience the company needed to put ideas into practice: “We are stepping into this now with a bit more information in our hands and with a bit more confidence that this is doable and institutions and organisations like ours need to do this,” he states. “All of that requires partnership and there is no single institution that can do that alone, and that is why I’m calling out for private and public [institutions] to come together. That is what excites me about this partnership.”

Munyori has witnessed the benefits of the fresh perspectives people with disabilities can offer. “The experience for me has been eye opening,” he says. “It’s been a learning journey. [The employees] have challenged us on how our building looks [in terms of accessibility], what we need to take care of in terms of the systems and the processes.”

The new approach has also enhanced the services they provide. One of their employees who has a visual impairment worked with them to develop more accessible online materials. Munyori notes: “That produced a deliberate attempt to then say, ‘how do we ensure that our learning programmes are well-geared towards the visually impaired?’ And, now we have accessible programmes for the visually impaired, which we continue to develop.”

Uganda

Deus Turyatemba, who has a visual impairment, works as a sustainability manager at Standard Chartered Bank in Uganda, overseeing the bank’s diversity and inclusion agenda. But 10 years ago, as a young graduate with a disability, he struggled to find employment until he was hired by Standard Chartered, which has a strong ethos of embracing diversity and inclusion. “I credit my own success to having found an inclusive workplace where I have been able to develop and apply my talents. My hope is that the [Inclusive Futures initiative] will make this a possibility for many more young people in Uganda and beyond.”

“At Standard Chartered we are more than happy to be part of the initiative. Building on our past experience we are optimistic that we can play a fantastic role in shaping the future of people with disabilities.”

In Uganda, the Federation of Ugandan Employers has been building the case for inclusive employment with businesses in the country. “The starting point is information,” says the Federation’s CEO, Douglas Opio. “This is what we’ve been doing together with partners like Sightsavers… What we have been trying to do is raise some awareness, in other words to make employers disability confident. Some of them have their doubts, but of course when you explain to them of course they understand what needs to be done.”

Working closely with HR managers is key in helping companies implement policies to hire people with disabilities and make reasonable accommodations for them, such as providing information in braille. “It doesn’t happen accidentally but deliberately,” Douglas adds. “If you have a policy in place then that can be done.”