Disability Main Streaming at Workplace: a Case Study of Christoffel Blinden Mission

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which Christoffel Blinden Mission (CBM) has implemented the existing legislations on employment and accommodation of persons with disabilities especially the Disability Act of Kenya, 2003. CBM is one of the oldest international development organizations whose purpose is to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities in the poorest countries of the world. Despite the existence of several laws that aims to promote the rights of persons with disabilities to full and equal participation in the society, many have not yet been implemented. The study objective was to explore the attitudes employers and employees have towards employees with disabilities at work place in relation to accommodation, exclusion and implementing existing legislations. The study looked at the programs CBM has put in place to accommodate employees with disability, attitudes and level of CBM's conformity to the existing legislations that seek to address issues that concern persons with disability and employment. CBM East and Central Africa regional office staff participated in the research. Employees with disabilities in both regional offices also provided crucial information needed to complete this research. The information was generated from discussion held with respondents, observations by the researcher and experience of researcher as Disability and Inclusive development officer. The research found out that CBM had 10 per cent employee with disabilities. It also found out that despite the fact that they have not been able to accommodate all types of disabilities and still have a lot to do to improve; efforts have been made to accommodate persons with disabilities. The physical facilities at the work place are very accommodative to people with disabilities. For example, they have parking space reserved for people with disabilities, ramp with hand rail, accessible reception, and accessible toilet. Level of satisfaction on various areas of disability mainstreaming was also high. The research recommendations were to ensure equal participation of persons with disabilities in decision making efforts, break communication barriers by learning sign language, and recruit more people with disabilities and review of human resource policies to ensure people with disabilities are mainstreamed in all aspects.