Old name alert
We're thrilled to announce that HI was selected as a winner of Amplify's Disability and Inclusion Challenge!
The challenge: How might we reduce stigma and increase opportunities for people with disabilities?
Our solution: Global toolbox for inclusive workplace adaptations for developing countries
With support from the HI team, Angela Kohama, our talented inclusive livelihood policy officer, submitted the idea of a global toolbox that will assist employers in creating work spaces, tools, and work methods that are accessible for persons with disabilities.
Globally, people with disabilities are underemployed, at staggering rates. We know that often simple accommodations make it easy for a worker with a disability to thrive. We want to ensure that employers have the tools they need to make their offices, factories, bakeries, and more, accessible for their workers.
HI already has effective advocacy tools to convince employers and entrepreneurs that employment of persons with disabilities is important in low and middle income contexts. However, after shifting these paradigms, employers and entrepreneurs need support to adapt the work environment to accommodate persons with disabilities. That's where we step in!
How it works
The toolbox can be organized as a phone or web-based application. The user is presented with a wide selection of livelihood opportunities or training options, contextualized to developing countries.
The user selects the profession or training, and is brought to the next page: disability type. The user selects the type of disability--all disabilities will be included. The application then returns a tailor-made page offering all the information about how to adjust the tools, work methods and environment within the livelihood opportunity selected for the disability selected. This will not be prescriptive – HI believes persons with disabilities can enter any job, given the right preparation and accommodation.
The user can combine these suggestions with local resources to create contextually relevant workplace accommodations. In addition, as the end users identify new solutions for reasonable accommodation, they can upload them in the application. Voila!
Learn more about our winning idea!
Many thanks to Amplify for supporting our innovative idea!
ABOUT AMPLIFY
Amplify is a series of innovation challenges bringing increased collaboration and a human-centered design approach to early stage solutions addressing some of the world’s toughest problems. Amplify is a joint initiative of OpenIDEO, IDEO.org and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). It is made possible through DFID funding.