A Sightsavers Initiative is helping PWDs to Surmount Unemployment Challenges in Nigeria

Floare de Cires addresses the employment barriers people with disabilities face by training them in culinary and hospitality skills that help them integrate into the workforce and build a sense of independence.

Several companies’ newfound openness to remote work is leading to opportunities for people whose disabilities make in-person work difficult or impossible to find stable employment. The share of adults with disabilities who are working has soared in the past two years, far surpassing its pre-pandemic level and outpacing gains among people without disabilities.

The Peniel Foundation virtually connects people with disabilities with mentors to help them learn to achieve their goals, level up their career skills to access to better jobs and become financially independent. Since forming, the foundation has seen thousands join the program and go on to have great success in their careers and personal lives.

Nonprofits like L'Arche Boston North are using food service education, job coaching, and mentoring to connect adults with intellectual disabilities to meaningful employment. At least 30 graduates of the now-closing Breaking Grounds Café have gone on to work in food service, and multiple L'Arche participants have secured jobs in the industry.

Disabled farmers in Kashmir are adapting agricultural practices through locally-fabricated tool modifications, adjusted work timing, and traditional soil/seed management techniques that reduce physical labor by 15-50% and enable them to continue farming despite increasing climate stress.

Before DOGE cut the program’s funding, Charting My Path for Future Success was helping students with disabilities learn ways to successfully transition from high school to college or the working world with greater self-sufficiency. Before it was canceled, 1,600 high school juniors enrolled in the program, learning how to set goals, take care of themselves and build their confidence and self-determination skills.

Lionheart Ability Leaders International Foundation (LALIF) uses a comprehensive training program to empower parents, teachers and those living with vision and hearing impairment. Their programming teaches educators how to understand tactile sign language, and also empowers parents on how best to support their children living with disabilities.

Inclusive Farm is adapted for people with a wide range of physical needs, like for people who are blind, to give farming students the full range of skills expected on a farm. Inclusive Farm aims to break down barriers for disabled people in the farming industry and is currently ushering its first intake of 14 students toward completing their courses.

Enabled to Enable provides vocational skills training to disabled individuals. So far, the skills training has reached about 129 women and girls, empowering them to find jobs and even start their own businesses despite their disabilities.

Albergo Etico prepares people with disabilities for work in the hotel industry, using training based on the Montessori method. The "download" method helps people learn job skills at their own pace, translating lessons for people with various cognitive abilities. Training begins with their families, doing household chores in their own home. Trainees now work in eight Italian cities, plus three other countries. The investment pays off both economically and socially, as trainees gain autonomy and self-sufficiency.