This article is about the barriers to inclusive employment that people with intellectual disabilities and families face in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Bangladesh.
Through the Inclusion Works Project, we worked with our members in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Bangladesh to talk with self-advocates and family members about employment.
We had 3 consultation meetings with self-advocates and 3 consultation meetings with families – we talked to 54 self-advocates and 45 family members about access to inclusive employment in their countries.
Some of the barriers that they told us about were discrimination from employers, lack of access to education, unfair pay, issues with safety and security at work, and being pressured to choose self-employment.
This article explains some of the issues accessing inclusive employment that people with intellectual disabilities and their families told us they face in low- and middle-income countries.
The article also gives recommendations for how organisations doing work on inclusive employment can work towards addressing some of these barriers and being more inclusive.
Journal of International Development, Volume 34, Issue 5