The promotion of the economic rights of persons with disabilities project develops and facilitates an informal network of Disabled Persons’ Organisations (DPOs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working on disability issues in the National Capital Region and Bohol Province to strengthen their collective voice in promoting employment rights of persons with disabilities. The network will act as the catalyst of civil society’s efforts to make local and national duty bearers more proactive in the implementation of existing international and national laws on right to employment and livelihoods of persons with disabilities. Various capacity-building activities in lobbying and advocacy, such as in governance, employment rights, and legal frameworks on disability will be implemented to strengthen the target group’s skills and participation. Awareness-raising is also a significant aspect of the project which will be done through consultations, workshops, and dissemination of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials. The project is built in a way that allows various stakeholders to contribute and share experiences and good practices, and it positions persons with disabilities at its core as they will be the direct implementers of the activities. In doing so, the project will amplify the voices of the marginalised group which is under-represented in the political arena.

Leonard Cheshire Disability Philippines Foundation, Inc. (LCDPFI) has continued to focus on working with and supporting persons with disability. In particular, this project aimed at promotion of the economic rights of persons with disability by developing and facilitating an informal network of Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to strengthen their collective voice in promoting employment rights of persons with disability. One of the network members mentioned the use of a holistic approach to addressing issues within the disability sector: 

“The Voice project taught us to take a holistic approach in addressing the issues within the disability sector. As problems are often multi-layered and overlapping among the different marginalised sectors especially when the pandemic hits us, it is important to see how groups can work together towards a common goal. The Voice project gave us the opportunity to connect and collaborate with like-minded individuals and organisations whose goals are not different from ours. This allowed us to resolve problems through a different lens, capable of seeing the gaps and overlaps we previously missed.” 

Acting as the catalyst of CSO efforts, the project was able to obtain the commitment of sixteen DPOs from the National Capital Region (NCR), Bulacan and Bohol and created a network composed of eight national government agencies and offices, seven local government offices, twenty-eight private companies and three CSOs. Through this network, the project was able to conduct consistent lobbying with the different DPOs and carried out different capacity building sessions with various stakeholders and network members. These combined efforts resulted in a number of successes: 

First, the project achieved the passage of five municipal/city ordinances/resolutions from partner Local Government Units (LGUs). The project also secured three Memorandum of Agreements with two national government agencies and one CSO in institutionalizing the conduct of Disability Awareness and Sensitivity Training (DAST) sessions to their national, regional and local offices 

As a result of these effective networking activities, LCDPFI joined seven advocacy groups including Sub-committee on Advocacy, Sub-committee on Training, Employment and Livelihood (SCOTEL) of the National Council Disability Affairs (NCDA) and the technical working group on the House Special Committee on Persons with Disability 

Effectively, network members including DPOs, public officials and employees in the public and private sector showed increased knowledge and awareness on disability with improved attitude, sensitive and being responsive to the needs of persons with disability. Capacity building sessions also saw improved confidence among PWD who became more proactive in their community participation. Similarly, private and public stakeholders recognized the need to make their services inclusive and being more open to hiring PWD. This was manifested in the continuous coordination with LCDPFI in finding qualified PWD to fill up their vacancies. Four persons with disability Bohol and one in NCR were successfully linked to employment with many other employment referrals made to various employers 

The consistent and effective advocacy work of the team translated to a clearer need for inclusive employment and representation of persons with disabilities in their community. As the advocacy continues long after the project has ended, the lifelong knowledge and passion for promoting the rights of persons with disabilities remain to be one of their greatest impacts on the sector. 

Links to outputs 

• Draft baseline mapping report: https://app.box.com/file/862537639782 

• Inclusive employment campaign (Newsletter): https://app.box.com/file/714131642266 
• Deaf Awareness Weak Voice Campaign participation: https://voice.global/blog/meet-some-of-our-changemakers/ 
• L&L Vlog (LCDPFI and UP Babaylan): https://voice.global/blog/linclusion-est-importante/ 
• And Then Suddenly podcast: https://voice.global/podcast/and-then-suddenly-rising-voices-5/ 
• Lessons learnt report: https://app.box.com/file/860284142023 

• End of project appreciation video: https://app.box.com/file/866007252088 
• End of project Milestone Video: https://app.box.com/folder/56786070133