supporting entrepreneurs with disabilities

SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURS WITH DISABILITIES

BY MANIQUE GUNARATNE

OVERVIEW OF THE EMPLOYERS' FEDERATION OF CEYLON, SPECIALISED TRAINING & DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTRE

● Developing employability skills of persons with disabilities and placing

them in gainful employment

● Developing entrepreneurship skills of persons with disabilities and

supporting them to market their products

● Special focus on women entrepreneurs with disabilities

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GOOD PRACTICES

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1. Writing business plans

2. Technopreneurship for Social Change

3. Cookery Training on Rice Dishes

4. Arranging stalls to market their product

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5. Support to up-grade the products

6. Interest free loans

7. Developing entrepreneurship skills of girls with learning

disabilities with the support of family members as an

income generating activity

8. Social inclusion

CHALLENGES FACED

● Covid-19 pandemic

● Lack of transportation facilities

● Lack of accessible banking facilities

● Granting self-employment aid without proper monitoring

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● Lack of education

● Low quality in products

● No proper marketing strategies

● Products do not suit the modern market

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● People with disabilities are also not being engaged in backward and

forward linkage activities

● Unavailability of provision of support services.

● The households perceive that it is not safe to allow household with

disabilities members to go out of home.

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● Restriction of mobility

● Communication barriers

● Not allow to work

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● Lack of support from the community.

● Challenges in accessing production fields

● Input and output markets located far from home

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● People often walk to these places to reduce expenses.

● Influencing the traders to directly serve the producers at the

farm gate.

● Lack of vocational training programmes.

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LESSONS LEARNED IN DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING PROGRAMMES TO SUPPORT ENTREPRENEURS WITH

DISABILITIES

• Changing mindset

• Lack of family support

• Persons with disabilities are not included in the decision-making

process at all levels

• Lack of Social safety

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GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

• Self-employment aid of Rs. 25,000 for low-income groups.

WAY FORWARD

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1. Dedicated shelf for entrepreneurs with disabilities in supermarkets

2. Stall in the “Good market”

3. Strengthening the local service providers

4. Deliver knowledge, skills and information and extension services to the

doorstep of the households.

5. Specialised education support that can support literacy.

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6. Diversity sources of income

7. Strengthen institutional linkages to increase access to input markets,

output markets, finance, skills and knowledge and other support

services for the people with disabilities.

8. Develop/strengthen the community support system for the people with

disabilities and households with disabilities.

9. Need to facilitate linkage with vocational training institutions to ensure

that the people with disabilities have skills and training that they can

use to diversify the source of income.

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10. Allow people with disabilities to access the extensions, market linkage services

provided by the local service providers.

11. Build capacity of the community and the service providers to understand the

challenges of the people with disabilities and their households and tailor the

support services to their needs.

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12.Coordination between local service providers who can serve the

people with disabilities directly.

13.Allow people with disabilities to access the extensions, market

linkage services provided by the local service providers.

14.Build capacity of the community and the service providers to

understand the challenges of the people with disabilities and their

households and tailor the support services to their needs.

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Contact Details:(Honoured ,Deshabandu) MS. MANIQUE GUNARATNEManager - Specialised Training & Disability Resource Centre The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon,385 J3 Old Kotte Road,Rajagiriya,Sri Lanka

Telephone: +94 117801801 Mobile: +94 779571918E-mail: maniqueg@empfed.lk , manique.g@gmail.comWeb: www.employers.lkBlog: http://efcnetworkondisability.employers.lk/Skype – manique.g

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000521211893

Viber: 0094779571918

WhatsApp: 0094779571918

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMBhDQ516xwVr86zKLM1HUw

THANK YOU

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