Vocational training, microcredit ensure self-reliance

(From left) Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) Coordinator Shazzad Khan, Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) Executive Director Md Shafiq-ul Islam, Bangladesh Technical Education Board Chairman Abul Kashem, and DFID Programme Manager-Governance Abul Monsur Muhammad Moniruzzaman at a roundtable, “Realising Potential of Persons with Disabilities: Creating Entrepreneurs”, organised by CRP in association with MJF in the capital's CRP-Mirpur yesterday. Photo: Star

Providing vocational training and microcredit to people with disabilities can make them self-reliant and ensure their involvement in productive work, said experts at a roundtable yesterday.
This form of employment creation can ensure their financial wellbeing and, to some extent, restore their dignity and respect in society, they added.
The roundtable, “Realising Potential of Persons with Disabilities: Creating Entrepreneurs”, was organised by the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in association with Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) in the capital's CRP-Mirpur.
A World Health Organization estimate states that around 10 percent of Bangladesh's population suffer from various forms of disabilities, said CRP Executive Director Md Shafiq-ul Islam.
“One major hurdle in the rehabilitation is that society sees the efforts as charity when it is actually their right to have access to healthcare, education and employment,” he said.
MJF Programme Manager Najrana Yasmin Heera said people with disabilities often lack the confidence and motivation to look for employment. “CRP's primary challenge is to awaken their will to be self-reliant,” she said.
CRP should start programmes to rehabilitate the many Rana Plaza building collapse survivors, she added.