ICT has the potential to improve all aspects of PWDs’ lives such as education, health, transportation, and livelihoods. In Egypt, there are more than 8.6 Million persons with Disabilities (PwD), representing 10.5% of the population according to the last census made by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in 2017.
In this regard, the “Jobs and Skills for Persons with Disabilities with Focus on ICT-Based Solutions” project seeks to create an enabling environment for PWDs to participate effectively in developing their society.
The project follows a multifaceted approach for the full inclusion of PWDs in the job market. At one level, the project promotes rehabilitation and employment services through providing job training, counseling, job search assistance, and placement. Therefore, it contributes to building the capacities of people with disabilities to facilitate their inclusion in the labor market. At another level, the project has created an e-employment platform for PwD which is the National Network for the Services of Persons with Disabilities “Rehabilitation”. The platform is a one-stop-shop for all stakeholders to market their services, enhance PwDs’ skills, and increase their opportunities to find decent jobs and start their own enterprises. It, also, supports the private labor market inclusion for PwDs through ICT solutions.
The project delivered many outcomes as it trained 608 PWDs on the most needed labor market skills, enhanced a coordination platform among key stakeholders (government, civil society, and the private sector) on a referral system for providing training, rehabilitation, and employment services for persons with disabilities. Accordingly, more than 1000 organizations registered on the platform which enhances the functionality of the system.
Therefore, the project contributes to building a just society that ensures equality of rights and provides economic, social, and political opportunities especially for the underprivileged groups.

https://npd-egypt.net/

• Egypt

• People with disabilities

The project has already been replicated to cover all the Egyptian governorates. Furthermore, it can be easily replicated in other locations. The project inherently adheres to international conventions and norms on the rights of persons with disabilities namely, ILO, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, and the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities adopted by the United Nations. Thus, the project guiding principles are universally accepted and can be duplicated elsewhere. Additionally, the project meets a universal demand for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society. In other words, it is not tailored for a specific context that’s why it can be accommodated in different contexts.

On the other hand, the project provides most of its services using technologies that are accessible and affordable to all beneficiaries who have internet and electronic device including computers, laptops, tablets, and mobiles that are used by most beneficiaries. For example, we produced 26 occupational therapy episodes for persons with mobility impairments that have reached around 130,000 views. In addition, the referral system “Rehabilitation” utilizes the latest technologies like AI, GPS, Chatbot to ensure full accessibility for persons with disabilities.

To conclude, the usage of ICT tools improves the efficiency of the platform services. Moreover, the project employs a cost-efficient model which makes it replicable in any country especially developing countries with limited resources. The project design is highly flexible regarding the expansion and addition of new services. The pilot phase of the project started local and then went national without facing issues in the expansion. So, the resilience of the system facilitates the replication by any organization.

The project ensures the sustainability of its outcomes in multiple ways:
1-Political sustainability: The Egyptian government is committed to the promotion of the rights of PwDs. Accordingly, the project was adopted as a national initiative by both the (MCIT) and the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS). So, the project will provide the decision-makers with accurate informationto influence issuing policies. Not to mention that the operation and finance of the platform will be sustained by the government.

2-Financial sustainability: The project online platform is developed using open source and the MCIT owns the source code which facilitates solving technical operations’ issues and maintenance. Moreover, any new improvements in the system will be developed by the software development team in MCIT with no additional cost. Additionally, the platform design is flexible and can incorporate new user types and services as it is hosted in the cloud which facilitates system improvements. The referral system is built as a scalable electronic system that facilitates develop new modules like the integration with Freelancing platforms.

3-Institutional sustainability: the project ownership will be transferred to the MOSS to sustain the operation of the system and the MCIT will be responsible for the hosting and any technical support. MOSS staff are well trained to operate the system all over Egypt. The project has delivered many training workshops for NGOs to train PWDs on the usage of the platform to ensure the sustainability of the platform operation. Furthermore, the wide network of project stakeholders contributes to the platform sustainability.

4-Social sustainability: the project is developed using a participatory approach. The persons with disabilities are fully incorporated in all the project phases. The platform has gained the satisfaction of beneficiaries and positive feedback. Hence, the platform possesses a strong base of community support to ensure the sustainability of the platform’s functionality.

The project promotes the equality and inclusion of PwD in their society. It contributes to enhancing PwDs’ skills and bridging the corresponding employment gap. Hence, creating equal opportunities and contributing to the economic and social empowerment of persons with disabilities. The project also promotes gender equality as ICT is neutral by nature, it targets men and women equally. The project is integrated with the MCIT’s other initiatives for empowering women to be entrepreneurs. Hence, raising the capacity of women with disabilities through training courses to facilitate self-employment opportunities. The project promotes transparency as the service providers are revising and shortlisting applicants electronically. Moreover, the project enhances the shared responsibility for the goals. The project’s multi-stakeholder partnership approach has built a strong network with various stakeholders from the government, NGOs, and the private sector focusing on the mutual responsibility principle. It strengthened the cooperation and partnerships with stakeholders by involving them in the design and evaluation of the platform by many activities including monthly steering committee meetings to discuss the project progress and drive any needed actions.