On the 23rd and 24th October 2017, IDA participated in the annual event of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN), held in the ILO headquarters in Geneva.
On the 23rd October the companies, National Business and Disability Networks (NBDNs) and NGOs members of the GBDN, met to discuss the progress of their activities and to welcome the new members that this year were three: Savola group, Capgemini and Legrand. The event was opened by the ILO Director General, Guy Rider, who told that “People with disabilities constitute some 15 per cent of the world’s population. In striving to achieve full and equal rights and participation in society for all women and men with disabilities, we are pleased to forge and strengthen partnerships such as the Global Business and Disability Network”.
The discussion on the event of the 23rd October addressed some critical topics for companies and National Business and Disability Networks, like digital accessibility, inclusive branding and what is the role of companies in filling the skills gap.
The ILO hosted a second meeting on the following day to bring the networks and other international organizations together for the first time. In fact, there are National Business and Disability Networks (NBDNs) in over twenty countries and many of these are developing or newly established. Through both online and physical participation, NBDNs, DPOs and NGOs from all over the world shared their status, challenges and future plans. The meeting was particularly focused on supporting newly-established networks in developing countries.
IDA board member, Ruth Warick representing the International Federation of Hard of Hearing persons, attended the meeting and had the opportunity to discuss with other DPOs, NGOs and NBDNs representatives about the importance of ensuring the full involvement of persons with disabilities in the design of new programmes aimed to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the labour market, in order to be more effective and to be in line with the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
More information about the event can be found below:
Agenda of the 23rd October meeting (English, pdf, 129.88 KB)
List and biographies of the panelists (English, pdf, 168.71 KB)
Press release (English, docx, 20.99 KB)
Agenda of the 24th October meeting (English, docx, 36.32 KB)
