The ILO Global Business and Disability Network is a network of multinational enterprises, employers' organizations, business networks and disabled persons' organizations who share the conviction that people with disabilities have talents and skills that can enhance virtually any business. Since 2010, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN agency whose mandate is the promotion of decent work, facilitates the Network, provides technical expertise to its members and directly supports its activities through the Network Secretariat, based in the ILO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The ILO believes that by participating in such a network, companies will benefit from more diverse workforces, improved productivity, reduced turnover, safer workplaces and increased customer service and community brand loyalty. Employers' organizations will also increase their capacity to address their members' needs related to disability diversity, corporate social responsibility, legal adherence and human resources. The Network's mission is to raise business awareness about the positive relationship between the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace and business success.
PEF and the Ghana Federation of Disabled Persons (GFD) collaborated to organize a breakfast meeting to foster their partnership and also create a collaborative platform where PEF and GFD can work together to create a disability inclusive workplace in Ghana with the support of Disabled People’s Organization of Denmark (DPOD). The collaboration between PEF and GFD was recently cemented by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organizations. This initiative is part of the process of establishing a National chapter of the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN) in Ghana.
PEF and the GFD invited key stakeholders (businesses) with the ability to support the drive for equal opportunities for people with disability, which included 30 CEOs and business captains. The Breakfast meeting focused on issues of disability and how organizations can be encouraged to recruit more People with Disabilities (PWDs) as the beginning of a long-term process of promoting inclusiveness at the workplace.
The Special Guest of Honor for the event was the Honorable Minister for Business Development, Mr. Awal Mohammed. The Meeting was held on Wednesday 14th February, 2018 at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Airport City- Accra, 8:00am-11:00am. The meeting began with a self-introduction and an introduction of the Guest Speaker and the Special Guest of Honor. The Guest Speaker for the event was Mr. Masindi Ntungu, the Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Standard Bank, South Africa, which is also a member of the South Employers for Disability (SAE4D) network made up of major corporations in South Africa working together to promote disability inclusiveness at the workplace.