MONROVIA – A non-legally binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between AIFO-Liberia, Liberia Opportunities Industrialization Center Inc (LOIC), and the National Commission on Disabilities-NCD. The MOU aims to ensure that people with disabilities have opportunities to obtain skills training.
By: Henry Karmo [email protected]
This non-legally binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between AIFO-Liberia, LOIC, and NCD will be in effect for a period of Twenty-Seven (27) Months, starting from June 2, 2023, to August 31, 2025. The continuation of this MOU is contingent upon the availability of donor funding throughout the specified period.
Within the MOU, AIFO-Liberia, LOIC, and NCD are committed to working in the best interests of persons with disabilities and ensuring their inclusion in Liberian society through Technical Vocational Education Training Programmes.
As part of the MOU, the parties have mutually committed that AIFO-Liberia, LOIC, and NCD will act in accordance with the spirit and intent of this MOU, even though neither party intends for it to be legally binding.
The MOU is the result of a project initiated by AIFO-Liberia four years ago. On September 1, 2021, AIFO Liberia launched the 4-year full-phase CAD-L project: “Persons with Disabilities Act as Advocates and Agents of Change for an Equitable and Inclusive Liberia.” CAD-L aims to reform systems and institutions in Liberia to include Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in development processes, where PWDs act as advocates and agents of change for an equitable and inclusive society.
CAD-L coordinates the efforts of duty bearers (employers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, the police, among others), rights-based holders (persons with disabilities and leprosy patients), Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPWDs), Organization of Women with Disabilities (OWWDs), and the institutions and SOs representing them, towards improving the economic independence of PWDs through access to socio-economic and sexual reproductive health rights (SHRs), as well as means of communication to advocate for their entitlements.
Under Intermediate Output 3, concrete steps taken by Duty Bearers and CSOs have created new opportunities for PWDs’ employment, self-employment, and entrepreneurship in the public and private sectors. Output 3.2 indicates that 5 TVET centers and 33 internships are accessible and inclusive for People Living with Disabilities (PWDs). To facilitate this, a training program for Commission on Disabilities staff, relevant government agency representatives, AIFO staff, and PWDs will conduct a TVET accessibility audit to identify existing accessibility gaps that may hinder the enrollment of PWDs in selected TVET centers, thus denying or reducing access for them.
CAD-L also responds to the new job demand generated through Output 2.1 on Social Dialogue and 3.3 on Technical and Vocational training, and to the job opportunities generated through Output 3.1, where start-up skills acquired by PWDs are transferable into paid job opportunities.
Within the MOU, AIFO-Liberia and the National Commission on Disabilities will conduct a specific and distinct accessibility audit of LOIC. This audit encompasses various aspects of accessibility, including infrastructural, organizational culture, staff and instructors’ skills, learning materials and tools, internal and external recruitment, and policies and regulations adopted by the school to assess and manage students’ learning.
Furthermore, they will conduct TVET centers adaptation following the accessibility audit at LOIC. The adaptation will consider the physical structures of the institution, inclusive policy design, and knowledge on disability and inclusive development. A total of 6 young people with disabilities who aspire to learn different technical and vocational skills at LOIC will be enrolled.
Additionally, disability mainstreaming training will be provided to dedicated LOIC staff to cater to the needs of PWD students when they join internship opportunities or are about to graduate and enter the labor market.
The MOU also calls for LOIC to provide its premises to AIFO-Liberia and the NCD team of accessibility auditors to perform the accessibility audit at the institution. LOIC will assign dedicated staff to accompany AIFO-Liberia and the NCD team of accessibility auditors during the physical accessibility audit process at the institution.
“LOIC will provide much-needed information related to the overall establishment of the school, including its policies, teaching staff, program delivery mechanisms, student composition, and any other information that will aid the accessibility audit process. Following the accessibility audit and adaptation processes, LOIC will endeavor to increase their offering of services to PWDs aspiring to learn different technical and vocational skills for sustenance.”
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