UNPRPD presents Draft Audit tool to the Dialogue Committee Members to initiate the piloting phase

The United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) Multi-country project on Ending Stigma and Discrimination, Breaking the Cycle of Poverty and Marginalization of Persons with Disabilities being jointly implemented by UNESCO and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in collaboration with Light of the World held a workshop to present the draft audit tool meant to identify, track and document disability stigma and discrimination in TVET and Workplaces in Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe to the Dialogue Committee Members on 11 August 2022.

The meeting initiates the third stage (Piloting phase) of the Audit tool development and implementation process which involves the training of implementing team, piloting of the implementation cycle and reporting.

This development comes after a series of interviews, focus group discussions, research, validation of study findings, and the co-creation and design processes held from 30 May to 01 June 2022.

Attending the meeting were 53 participants representing multi-stakeholders from Light for the World, Government, UNESCO, ILO, the UNPRPD Project Dialogue Committee members, workers union, private sector, and Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), and others.

Anneke Maarse (Light of the World), giving a presentation highlighted the key features, the guiding principles (In compliance with UNCRPD), the implementation process, and the key components measured by the audit tool.

Moreover, discussions on the Draft Concept Note on upcoming Training of OPDs undertaking piloting of Draft Audit Tool in TVET Institutions also took centre stage.

To round up, Light for the World and UNESCO and ILO Project Focal Points led the finalization of names of proposed OPDs and TVET to participate in the pilot phase in Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Firstly, the audit tool is meant to establish a Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) compliant, standardized set of criteria to define disability stigma and discrimination in TVET Institutions and Employers’ and Workers’ Organisations.

Additionally, the audit tool will assist TVET Institutions and Employers’ and Workers’ Organisations to understand the specific stigma and discrimination patterns that exist in their institutions and prevent or limit persons with disabilities’ access to education and employment.

The audit tool will also make representatives of TVET Institutions and Employers’ and Workers’ Organisations aware of explicit and implicit existing disability stigma and discrimination in the different policy frameworks, procedures, and processes, as well as in the perceptions, behaviours, and attitudes of their staff and beneficiaries.

The audit tool will serve to Inform the design of the Sensitization Training Series addressed to the different target groups in TVET institutions, and Employers’ and Workers’ Organisations (staff, faculty, students, CEOs, Unions, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) etc.).

Lastly, the audit tool will propose a monitoring scheme/model that can be used and integrated by the TVET institutions, and Employers’ and Workers’ Organisations to measure the evolution over time of policy frameworks, procedures, and processes, as well as in the perceptions, behaviours, and attitudes within their respective institutions.

This joint UN project funded by the UNPRPD MPTF aims at developing a collective understanding of the stigma and discrimination patterns in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions and among employers, thereby developing models and tools to fight such a widespread phenomenon and fostering exchanges of good practices and experiences among the four countries involved (Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mozambique, Namibia), and beyond.