Sultan Nasari/ Bikram Mohapata Swedish Committee for Afghanistan Impact Assessment of vocational training for persons with disabilities in Afghanistan Sultan Nasari/ Bikram Mohapata Swedish Committee for Afghanistan

Introduction Employment of persons with disabilities is viewed as a step forward towards rehabilitation, inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities The Article 24 of UNCRPD and Article 27 asserts that persons with disabilities have right to education including vocational education and Employment Rights of persons with disabilities Accessibility Organization for Afghans disabled (AAOD) estimates 1.5 million persons with disabilities in the employable ages do not have access to any kind of employment in Afghanistan. Afghanistan Independent human rights commission’s study in 2016, reveals 88.8% persons with disabilities have no access to any source of income 10.1% have accessed to vocational trainings mostly by national and international NGOs. 60-80% of persons with disabilities live in rural areas in Afghanistan, are without access to basic needs Women with disabilities are double discriminated, their disability and culture.

Background of the study The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, one of the leading agencies in Afghanistan has been working for empowerment and inclusion of people with disabilities in Afghanistan for last 20 years. The development goal 3 of the organization aims at full inclusion of persons with disabilities in Afghan society and have equal access to health, education, employment and participation in public life The CBR programme of SCA operates in 45 districts in 12 provinces of Afghanistan with components of physical rehabilitation, social integration, employment support, special and inclusive education, and capacity & institutional development

Continue…….. The employment support activities include facilitation of jobs, vocational training and interest free loan The objectives of vocational training and loan to enhance to income and diversify livelihood options of the people with disabilities through provision. A total of 539 (271 F and 268 M) persons with disabilities provided vocational training in 2014 The process for vocational training include Assessment of potential trainees with disabilities; Provision of physical rehabilitation support Market study to find out profitable trades and identify potential employers; Selection of trade in consultation with persons with disabilities and families Provision of vocational training; Literacy and business management training at the community level; Provision of loan and Facilitation for employment of persons with disabilities in private and government sector.

Methodology A sample study conducted to assess the status of training graduates Objective: To ascertain the level of socioeconomic changes in the life of the Persons with Disabilities for the vocational trainings conducted in 2014. The qualitative study adopted a participatory approach to get the information Different aspects covered under the study Realization of expectation level of participants; Satisfaction level; and Effectiveness of additional training like literacy and entrepreneurship management. Percentage of trainees found employment or self-employment Changes in their lifestyles after the training Sampling: Stratified purposive sampling was used to target diverse groups of men and women with disabilities and covering different trades in different regions Sample size: 16.5%. The sample covered 70 % of people with physical disabilities, 19% were hearing and speech impairment, 2% were congenital disabilities and 9% were family members or members of poor families Data collection tools : Sample survey, Semi structure interviews

Findings Overall satisfaction Acquiring skills, training methodology, duration of the training, facilities within training center, post training support to find the employment and self - employment factors were considered as the different aspects of satisfaction or dissatisfaction Vast majority of 71% of participants were overall satisfied with the skills they learned from vocational training and business management 69% women and 73% of men were overall satisfied with the training.

Continue Business management and literacy training The study found that 85% (77 trainees) of total sample were satisfied with additional training like business management and literacy training. Men are more satisfied than woman Impact of Literacy training Around 30% of the sample can read, write simple sentences and record the information, 28% can measure with the tape after literacy training 18% can measure with tape, read, write, calculate and record all the information. Only 11 people shared have not learnt anything from the training Though sign language and braille was covered under the questionnaire, there is no response found in these two aspects

Continue 71% (64 participants) of the trainees of 2014 have found the jobs in same trade whereas about 66% of trainees managed the jobs in the same trades in 2015 Among the 71% of 2014 trainees 68.75 % of total employed able to manage regular income 28 % engaged seasonally and 10% shared that they are temporarily engaged The average income of the employed /self- employed who completed training in 2014 is about 3052 Afs (about 47 USD), As per the preliminary findings it is about 3430/- Afs (53 USD )for 2015

Success rate of different trades Market oriented trades and able to absorb 90-100 % of graduates in the trades are Tailoring, Embroidery, Baby set making, Motor cycle repairing, LPG mechanic, Tin smith and Carpentry

Major Reasons for the non-employment Response advanced Female Male Total % Security related   Family restriction 1 1.11 Further studies Didn’t learn can’t work 7 4 11 12.22 No access to markets No tool kits, no finances 5 5.55 Sickness (chronic) 2 4.44 No response 15 26 28.88

Success Story: Ms. Mehtarlam, a 40-year-old women with disability, from Chilmati village in Laghman, lost her husband about five years ago. She is the only bread owner of the family and manages her six children from the income from tailoring. She received Home Based Therapy and attended vocational training in tailoring for eight months organized by SCA. At the end of the training she was provided with tailoring machine, scissors, tailoring board and other essential tools. Swedish Committee for Afghanistan also granted 30,000 AFS (approx. 400 USD) loan to her. She used the the money to buy clothes from market and stich dresses for women. People in the village bring her their cloths for sewing. In addition, she gets orders from market for stitching female suits/clothing Her brother helps in selling the dresses in the market. She earns around 100 USD per month Ms. Manthaha is happy about her life and shared that, “Thanks to Almighty Allah, life is going very well, my children go to school. I can support them and repay the monthly instalments of loan. It was the support from Swedish Committee for Afghanistan that made me capable to be self-reliant. She said that it was the dream of her husband to educate the children. “Now, I want to follow and fulfil his dream. I can fight the obstacles exist in front of my children’s education especially the daughters. So far, I am successful in overcoming the problems.”

Conclusion and Recommendations Community based Vocational trainings is a success intervention, in humanitarian context of Afghanistan. Women with disabilities have got greater access to self employment with support of the Business development officers and Family members. 76.5 % women Self employed against 65% men. Local based market feasibility study was a strength of the Vocational training intervention in the rural areas, Hiring of local and cultural oriented trainers, selection of training points close or within the locality of the women target groups was a success for the results. Greater support from CBRC, CVs, and Community based rehabilitation workers support to the intervention was the key for achieving the result.

Recommendations Post trainings provision of the toolkits, interest free revolving loan need to be further strengthened Support like procurement of raw materials and marketing products needs to be strengthened Causes for lower coverage of people with visual impairments, intellectual impairments and epilepsy needs to be analyzed and addressed SCA has supported to develop a guideline for integrating persons with disabilities in to mainstream vocational trainings. However, there is need for advocacy to increase access and participation of persons with different disabilities including women with disabilities to mainstream vocational training and employment facilities, Sets of standard & market adopted curriculums need to be developed to further facilitate the marketable skills trainings to meet the market demand, Advocacy with the Government to promote and support the local products and small scale business companies, to create better opportunities for employments,

SWEDISH COMMITTEE FOR AFGHANISTAN Thank you all… SWEDISH COMMITTEE FOR AFGHANISTAN