Bringing the disabled into the mainstream

Four organisations sign MoU for including disabled people in gainful employment

Karachi

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed among four parties at a hotel on Tuesday afternoon for collaboration in the Dastoor programme, an initiative undertaken by the Network of Organisations Working for People with Disabilities (NOWPDP) for including disabled people, suffering from various impairments, in public life and gainful employment.

The MoU was signed by NOWPDP President Amin Hashwani, Hunar Foundation CEO Javed Hasan, Wali Rangoonwala of Rangoonwala Trust and Arshad Nadeem of the Pakistan-American Cultural Centre (PACC).

The last three organisations will cooperate with the NOWPDP in implementing the Dastoor initiative.

The initiative, according to Hashwani, envisages selecting people with various disabilities and impairments, having them trained in a vocation for which they indicate an inclination, and then have them placed in jobs where they could be as productive to the country and society as their compatriots who have not been lumbered with any impairment.

Hashwani emphasised the economic implications of disenfranchisement of persons with disabilities.

Addressing the gathering, he said that the largest industry in the country was inequality.

The middle classes, he said, were the hardest hit. “If we are going in for a new Pakistan, it will have to have inclusiveness,” he said.  For this, he said, capacity development was imperative, as were innovative solutions.

Hashwani said, “All our partners have been very cooperative in our programmes.” In this context, he mentioned cooperation from the corporate sector which, he said, was always forthcoming.   “We hope there will be something larger than life from today’s initiative.”

Javed Hasan, CEO, Hunar Foundation, said: “Hunar Foundation’s vision is to see a skilled Pakistan. We take great pains to train young men and women from the less privileged areas of the country and have them certified.”

Omair Ahmad, director, NOWPDP, said: “We are evolving now from school training to working with the mainstream vocational training centres for training adults with disabilities. “We are confident that the impact of this initiative will be far-reaching and we hope to replicate it across Pakistan.”

Riffat Alvi, director, VM Art Gallery, said that there would be a special art exhibition at the art gallery with/for Dastoor.

Madiha from the PACC narrated the list of programmes the centre had from which the disabled persons could benefit.