Goto main content

Quality jobs for all

Inclusive Employment for People with Disabilities
Senegal

Handicap International (HI) helps people with disabilities find work in the Dakar region. Through personalised support, training and advocacy work with businesses, the organisation helps them successfully enter the world of work.

Thanks to Handicap International’s inclusive employment project, Ramatoulaye has worked as a cashier at Banque Atlantique since 2015.

Thanks to Handicap International’s inclusive employment project, Ramatoulaye has worked as a cashier at Banque Atlantique since 2015. | © E. Fitte-Duval / Handicap International

People with disabilities often find it very hard to find salaried employment. Workplaces are usually poorly adapted. Many do not have lifts and safety standards are sometimes poor. However, the biggest obstacle facing people with disabilities in the workplace is prejudice. Many employers are convinced that people with disabilities lack skills and are unable to bring anything to the company. Disability frightens people and companies prefer to keep people with disabilities at arm’s length.

Handicap International has been helping people with disabilities in the Dakar region find work since 2014. The organisation starts by providing them with personalised follow-up, including interviews with a social worker and an employment adviser. After a skills assessment, the organisation draws up an action plan with them, depending on their goals and needs. They are then given personalised support, which might include training, help applying for an internship, or awareness-raising for a potential employer.

Handicap International relies on a local network of more than 90 employers and a dozen organisations working in the field of employment and training. It helps partner businesses adapt premises to make them accessible to people with disabilities. They also raise the awareness of employees to ensure disabled employees are better included in the workplace. Lastly, it monitors the new employee to ensure that they are happy in their new job.

The Zena fruit processing plant near the port of Dakar, which employs over a hundred people, has already hired four people with hearing impairments who are monitored by Handicap International. Other people with disabilities are currently applying for work, and the plant’s employees have been provided with information on disability. What’s more, the management team is planning to make its new premises accessible to people with disabilities.

Where your
support
helps

PRESS CONTACT

CANADA

Fatou Thiam

USA

Mica BEVINGTON

 

Help them
concretely

To go further

Elisabeth, an essential link between HI’s deminers and the population
© A. Sawadogo / HI
Explosive weapons

Elisabeth, an essential link between HI’s deminers and the population

Elisabeth, community liaison agent, intervenes before, during and after the work of the demining teams. Her role is essential to ensuring the security of operations and the trust of the community.

Mine clearance enabling economic recovery and development
© J-J. Bernard / HI
Explosive weapons

Mine clearance enabling economic recovery and development

HI has launched new mine clearance operations in Casamance to enable communities to regain access to their villages, schools and medical centres.

8th March : women take the floor
© Fran6Concept / HI - Rem Dia Lo / HI - Handicap International
Rights

8th March : women take the floor

With the International Women's Day, HI want to offer you the testimony of six women, five in Senegal and one in Laos.