PAfID is working towards an inclusive society, where opportunities to participate in the cultural, social, and economic environment are open for all, especially for people with disabilities. With this, we work towards strengthening and supporting the capacity of relevant actors, for example OPDs, NGOs, Government, private sector, and communities at grassroot and national level. We also work directly with some of the most vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities, to ensure that they can access their rights and potential. Only through close cooperation at these multiple levels and with multiple stakeholders can changes towards a more inclusive society be achieved.
To contribute to this, have a look at our different programmes.
Our Programmes
The unique voice of women with disabilities needs to be heard, but for many reasons it is not. Women with disabilities (WWD) experience multiple disadvantages due to the interplay between gender, disability and poverty. They experience higher rates of poverty, ill health, unemployment and violence than their non-disabled peers.
From its early days in development in our social innovation lab in Cambodia, Agri-lab has expanded and is now also operational in Indonesia and in Africa. Agriculture is the backbone of rural life and economy in Cambodia but sadly can be an inaccessible environment on many levels. Persons with disability and the elderly face some of the greatest challenges and exclusion thus marginalising them from using their productive and creative capacity for self-determination and inclusion. Agri-lab aims to aid the mobility and functional impairment challenges by producing assistive farming devices for accessible agricultural practice thus improving livelihoods in rural economies.
Persons with disabilities often lack the communication and advocacy skills necessary to introduce their issues into the government system. As in many countries, they often have no or little access to information and public services especially in the rural areas and also lack the means to voice their concerns.
The new 3-year project builds on the success and learning of two previous projects that focused on building inclusive business and inclusive villages. This new intervention will have a different strategy because.
Many persons with disabilities, especially women, face difficulties participating in the labour market. Persons with disabilities have lower rates of employment compared to those without worldwide. Women with disabilities, rural residents and those with more severe impairments are even less likely to be employed. Job opportunities are limited due to discrimination, stigma, negative attitudes, lower educational status and lack of accessible transportation, reasonable accommodations and workplaces.
Plastic waste is a global concern causing devastating effects to the environment. It is a problem that won’t just go away on its own. It needs a new analysis, innovative ideas, collaborative action and joined up thinking to prevent its negative impact and to stop the planet from suffocating in plastic waste. Despite producing more than 430 million tons of plastic per year (United Nations Foundation 2023), we re-use only around 10%.
Throughout our work, we have learnt that actors in the field of development need to go through organizational and systematic processes of change within their programs to move towards sustainable (disability) inclusion. We support these processes at community, organizational and governmental level.