National dialogue with business community on social responsability and employment for people with disabilities, November 2022.
Some 22 government officials and business people met together to discuss how to expand the employment of people with disabilities. This involved talking about the challenges to their employment, what employment practices are working well and possible new approaches to increase the employment options and the productive employment of workers with disabilities in the labour market.
SP&PFM collaborated with the Business Association JIA in hosting the “Disability Inclusion Employment Practices in Kyrgyzstan – Peer-to-Peer Exchange” dialogue forum on 14 November in Bishkek.
The participants represented the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Migration, the Business Association JIA, the International Business Council, the American Chamber of Commerce, the transnational company Coca-Cola, the chairman of the Association of Social Entrepreneurs, the owner of the Bridges Hotel, other private entrepreneurs and international development partners. The forum featured several case studies of national experiences related to the employment of people with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan.
In her comments to the participants, Nazgul Cholumova, Head of the Department for the Development of Social Services for People with Disability and Senior Citizens within the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Migration, lauded what has been achieved to date: “The Government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2019 and promotes all possible measures for its implementation. Today, we see the best practices on the part of business, which is a role model to inspire others. The Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Migration encourages active cooperation on the employment of people with disabilities together with the business community in Kyrgyzstan.”
And Saliev Kalygul, Legal Adviser to the Business Association JIA, added: “The Business Association JIA encourages business associations to unite and share experiences [and to] hold more such peer-to-peer meetings in order to increase the social responsibility of businesses as well.”
The participants proposed recommendations for the working group responsible for discussing the draft Labour Code on disability issues that was established under the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Migration.
Learn more about the SP&PFM in Kyrgyzstan here.