Tinada Youth Organization is calling for the registration of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) into a skill development programme under the Innovations to Inclusion (I2I) project.
The three year project targets Persons With Disabilities aged from 18-45 in Kisumu County who have employable skills or has some training and possesses a disability card from the National Council of Persons with Disability (NCPWD).
Implemented under a consortium of many partners led by Leonard Cheshire, Disability, and funded by UKaid aims to increase meaningful employment of Persons With Disabilities.
Sam Jascom, the Project Coordinator of Tinada Youth Organization, says they target a total of 900 PWDs within the county.
The project dubbed I2I will enable the PWDs to undergo a number of training and mentorship sessions to prepare them for waged employment in the private sector.
“Through this project, we will not only capacity build them and support them through training, but we will be able to change the mindset of the employers for sustained economic employment,” he said.
PWDs have the capability and same opportunity in workplaces and should be able to access job opportunities easily and on equal ground.
The PWDs are trained on finding a job and communication confidence, securing and keeping the job, job search strategies and interview skills. “They should therefore take this chance to register into the programme,” urged Jascom.
For a long time, PWDs have felt left out. In this regard therefore, the project will also advocate for their rights to social inclusion and societal acceptance.
The project implemented in 2020 in partnership with the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK) and Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM) has so far enrolled 760 PWDs.
“Through this project, a number has been employed in various law courts as data entry clerks, at sub county hospitals, KWS impala sanctuary and in the county government,” said Jascom.
I2I is being piloted in Kenya and Bangladesh and only in three counties in Kenya namely Kisumu, Nairobi and Mombasa.
By Evangeline Mola and Lorine Awino
