Philippine Business and Disability Network advocates for diverse workplaces

MORE than a billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s total population, are living with some form of disability.

In the Philippines, results of the National Disability Prevalence Survey showed that in 2016, around 12 percent of Filipinos ages 15 and older experienced severe disability. Yet, even today, persons with disability are still often stereotyped, stigmatized and discriminated against.

Persons with disability face a number of societal barriers, which include a lack of access to opportunities for quality education and employment. In recent years, however, a positive movement toward inclusivity in the workplace has become more evident.

In line with the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) Week, the Philippine Business and Disability Network (PBDN), together with its members, partners and sponsors, held “Working Beyond Barriers,” a two-day online conference from July 20 to 21, 2022.

The event shed some light on the opportunities and challenges in disability inclusion in the workplace, and also tackled current and potential policies and practices that further promote participation and representation of persons with disability.

As a country-level platform, PBDN is a group for and by businesses that works toward more inclusive and barrier-free workplaces for persons with disability. It is currently a 22-member network, led by its current Steering Committee, which are JPMorgan Chase & Co., IBM, PayPal, Asurion and Citihub.

“We Connect companies to Person with Disability talents; we Capacitate companies to promote and build disability-inclusive workplaces; and we Collaborate with different stakeholders to improve the workforce participation of Persons with Disability,” says Pixie JavierGutierrez, representing JPMorgan Chase & Co., the present chair of the PBDN Steering Committee.

For more information, visit pbdn@projectinclusion.ph.