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Standard Chartered Bank has today joined the Kenya Business and Disability Network. The announcement was made today at a breakfast meeting held with select members of the network who engaged in conversations around disability, inclusion, and youth engagement.
This comes off the back of a two-year employability programme being carried out by the bank in partnership with Sightsavers and Light for the World. The initiative, launched under the Bank’s FutureMakers employability pillar has enabled Sightsavers to work with Organisations of People with Disabilities (OPDs) and is seeking to increase the confidence and job readiness of 790 young jobseekers with disabilities through a combination of soft skills training and mentoring.
The breakfast meeting, which included representatives from the private sector, the Federation of Kenya Employers and members of the Kenya Business and Disability Network, touched on disability inclusion matters with a focus on how people with disabilities earn, learn, and grow in an inclusive and diverse workforce.
Speaking during the event, Kariuki Ngari, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Kenya said, ‘’ We, in the private sector have a critical role to play. We not only have the moral duty to promote and facilitate the hiring, retention, and professional development of people with disabilities but we also have the opportunity to impact in areas of dire need and yet achieve our business objectives while at it. Today, young women and people with disabilities are twice as likely to be disadvantaged.
In Kenya for instance, ILO estimates that the youth unemployment rate was at 13.84 percent in 2021 with the gap widening even further for youth with disabilities. This means that more capacity building is needed to ensure that PWDs have access to skills, resources and systems that enable them to fully participate in the workforce without bias. Over the years, the government and policymakers have been working towards creating conducive environments for PWDs, However, to achieve maximum impact and build inclusive economies, there is need for extensive collaboration and partnerships with players in the private sector taking a supportive role.’’ He said.
In April this year, Standard Chartered in partnership with SightSavers and Light for the World launched a Kes 97M Futuremakers Inclusive Employability programme which aims at supporting young people, particularly girls and people with disabilities to find jobs through work readiness and vocational training. The programme creates opportunities to support young people to become job-ready by providing training, mentoring and an employment network to young people and supports employers to become more disability confident and inclusive of people with disabilities. Through KBDN, the programme is providing the corporate sector with an opportunity to share good practices and adopt inclusive practices in their business.
Commenting on this, Kariuki Ngari said, ‘’For an employability programme to become sustainable, we need to develop both the demand and the supply side and engage wider labor market stakeholders including business communities, universities, government and associations for people with disabilities to become the catalysts of inclusion in the broader labor market. Today, I am delighted to formalize our membership of the KBDN by signing the Inclusion Road Map. Aligned to our ambition to become a disability confident organization that removes barriers and increases accessibility, we want to be at the forefront of change and uplift the participation of people with disability. Today, we are reinforcing our commitment to building a culture of inclusion that enables us to be the best place to work, bank and contribute to prosperous communities. We are encouraged to see that many organizations are placing more focus on diversity and inclusion and we look forward to working with KBDN to not only bring more PWDS into the workplace but to also ensure that they thrive and make impact in the communities in which they live.’’
Standard Chartered has constituted a Kenya Diversity and Inclusion Council and identified three key objectives for its diversity and inclusion agenda.
- To attract, engage, develop, and retain diverse talent to maximize performance.
- To deliver banking products and services that meet the needs of our diverse client base.
- To support a diverse and responsible supply chain and investment in our communities.
The Kenya Business and Disability Network (KBDN) is a unique employer-led initiative, hosted by the Federation of Kenya Employers and supported by the International Labour Organisation and Sightsavers. Members include private sector, organizations of persons with disabilities and NGOs.
KBDN works to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in workplaces countrywide. It does this by demonstrating the clear business benefits employing people with disabilities and highlight the valuable contributions they bring to workplaces of all kinds.
KBDN promotes and facilitates the hiring, retention, and professional development of people with disabilities. KBDN aspires to raise awareness about the business and human rights case for disability inclusion in the workplace and highlight the positive relationship between disability inclusion and business success.
