The United States Embassy for International Development (USAID) in Manila will hold a forum on the “Economic Rights of Persons with Disabilities” on Tuesday.
Judith Heumann, US Department of State’s Special Advisor for International Disability Rights, will grace the forum together with advocates of persons with disabilities (PWDs) from the Philippine Government, civil society and academe, the US Embassy said in a news statement.
The forum will also include a presentation by Saint Paul University-Quezon City on “The Barriers to Employment and Economic Independence of People with Disabilities.”
The research was supported by the USAID’s Support the Employment and Livelihood of Persons with Disability (SELP) Activity.
SELP aims to reduce poverty and exclusion of people with disabilities in the Philippines through improved access to gainful employment and livelihood opportunities. To date USAID has provided employment and income generating activities for over 500 people with disabilities in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Davao City.