The United Nations in India recently signed a joint Non-Discrimination Statement on Employment of Persons with Disabilities. As part of this statement, UN agencies are committed to promote inclusivity, uphold human rights and nurture an equitable work environment for all individuals. The Heads of Agencies and Human Resource Officers will be responsible for adhering to and operationalizing the non-discrimination statement.
To advance the agenda of disability inclusion, the ILO, in collaboration with the United Nations Resident Coordinator, hosted a disability inclusion week and conducted various training and orientations for the Heads of UN Agencies in India, the Operations Management Team (OMT), Human Resource Officers, and disability focal points from 23 - 26 September 2024.
The trainings for each of the groups was different, with the common goal of improving the awareness and knowledge about disability and making the UN system and workplaces more accessible to and for persons with disabilities.
For the Heads of Agencies, the training focussed on the barriers faced by people with disabilities and what steps each organization take to hire persons with disabilities.
The sessions were interactive and involved participatory learning that enabled UN India colleagues to ideate around the challenges faced by persons with disabilities, in the workplace and the field, to find solutions.
A total of 73 staff were trained across the UN agencies.
