Promoting Inclusion through Institutional Change
By Chowdhury Nabila Tasnim
“A social movement that only moves people is merely a revolt. A movement that changes both people and institutions is a revolution.” ― Martin Luther King, Jr.
As the world advances towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the inclusion of persons with disabilities has become mandated by all. In fact, this is the first time the United Nations have explicitly mentioned disabilities and people with disabilities 11 times in their SDGs. Despite persistent efforts by organizations and individuals to become more inclusive, many factors often get unintentionally overlooked, usually due to the lack of understanding inclusion. Studies show that the exclusion of people with disabilities from our economy incurs a loss of 1 billion USD per year, which amounts to 1% of our GDP. Identity Inclusion is an organization that facilitates integration for psychosocially challenged people, by breaking all barriers and helping them create an identity for themselves, beyond their disability and limitations. Starting as a project under the Shammo Foundation in 2015, Identity Inclusion slowly evolved to be an organization advocating to promote inclusion of people with mental health conditions and people with disabilities. Registering as a consulting firm in 2019, Identity Inclusion has worked with several renowned grassroots organizations and NGOs to institutionalize inclusiveness in their respective organizations’ through advocacy, capacity building, and consultancy. Partnering with these organizations, Identity Inclusion works towards highlighting the knowledge gaps that end up ingraining exclusion in the organizational structures and developing more inclusive practices for these organizations.
BRAC
In 2018 and 2019, Identity Inclusion worked with BRAC, the number one NGO in the world, to help the organization create a more disability-inclusive workplace and programmes. Taking advice from Identity Inclusion’s Lead Consultant, Shamsin Ahmed, BRAC has taken several steps to ensure the integration of persons with disabilities. Their updated HR and communication policies now ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in roles that they have been traditionally left out of, making sure that there is no discrimination during interviews. These inclusive policies will trickle down to over 40,000 staff of BRAC Bangladesh, which will help institutionalize such inclusion on a massive scale. BRAC has renovated their headquarter and twenty of their area offices, following Universal Design Guidelines and National Building Code of Bangladesh, further evaluated by consultants from Identity Inclusion and BRAC’s disabled staff members. BRAC is ensuring a disability friendly vehicle and Aarong, a social enterprise of BRAC is making their major stores in Dhaka disability accessible. Through innovative inclusion models, BRAC has been targeting to increase self-reliance through inclusive classrooms and their apprenticeship-based skill development program for youths with disabilities. BRAC also advocated with the government of Bangladesh, to make the Metrorail and other public transports disability-friendly. Through the advisory work by Identity Inclusion, BRAC had set a strategic target to recruit Persons with Disabilities in 2019 alone 33 new staff with disabilities were given job offers. .
UCEP Bangladesh
Identity Inclusion has also worked with UCEP Bangladesh, an NGO providing Second Chance Education to out-of-school children and TVET education to adults. After doing an assessment study, Identity Inclusion developed an organizational disability inclusion strategy for UCEP on how to increase inclusivity within their organization, along with an action plan to implement these strategies. Although UCEP was already targeting youth with disabilities through its educational and technical institutions, Identity Inclusion addressed the need to further institutionalize inclusion through in their HR policy administrative and programmatic changes. A systematic process has been outlined to UCEP, to extend the effort through their Child and Woman Rights Advocacy (CWRA) program.
Identity Inclusion highlighted the importance of having disability-friendly HR policies, sensitization training, and infrastructure assessment, and the need to employ people with disabilities. Identity Inclusion advocated increasing UCEP’s infrastructural accessibility and usage of universal disability-friendly language to address their disabled beneficiaries. During 2012 to 2018, UCEP has supported 3,912 youths with Disabilities, by providing them education and training, in eight regions all across the country. The disabled beneficiaries of UCEP and the 1200 staff working with them are now benefiting from a more inclusive approach of the organization towards integrating people regardless of the challenges that they face.
Practical Action
Identity Inclusion has worked to ensure the integration of other vulnerable groups, as well as people with disabilities. Practical Action, an organization that tackles poverty with innovative action, is developing a comprehensive national menstrual hygiene strategy for Bangladesh, funded by UNICEF. Due to the Covid crisis the study to inform the development of the strategy had to be done online. Identity Inclusion helped them to carry out online focus group discussion(FGDs) using the Messenger app. The findings have been facilitated to collect data from Adolescent and Adult male and females online, to develop a national Menstrual Health Management(MHM) strategy. Identity Inclusion carried out FGDs via Facebook messenger, to comprehend the current understanding and practices of MHM across 16 targeted locations in Bangladesh. Identity Inclusion was selected to carry this out, given their experience in inclusive processes and collected data from particularly marginalized people such as those of Madrasahs and people with disabilities.
The findings of the FGDs pointed towards the need for rigorous planning to raise awareness, change attitudes towards MHM, and increase access to sanitation and hygiene products for menstruating people. The national strategy designed through the findings of the FGD carried out by Identity Inclusion and Practical Action will impact women living in vulnerability across the country, ensuring inclusion and equal opportunities for them.
With their consultancy and advocacy work, Identity Inclusion is working towards achieving the SDGs, particularly goals 4:Quality Education, goal 5: gender equality, goal 8: decent work and economic growth, goal 10,: reduced inequalities and goal 17: partnership for the goals. The preconceived notions and prejudices against persons with disabilities and other vulnerable populations that hold as a society have often become institutionalized over time. Though this situation cannot be changed in a day, organizations like Identity Inclusion are working to change institutional practices so that they are more inclusive in a sustainable and systemic way.
