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DISABILITY ACCESSIBILITY AUDIT AND ENHANCE THE CAPACITY OF TECHNICAL OFFICERS IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE in Anuradhapura District

 #Disability #Accessibility programmes include persons with diverse disabilities, ways in which their physical and emotional well-being are fulfilled and legal aspects of accessibility to the built environment.

The objective of the initiative is to develop the capacity of local authorities and raise awareness among technical officers, Officials in the decision-making process, Engineers, Architects, and Officials in the Planning Divisions. It is expected that this intervention will ensure that people with disabilities can access all public buildings and make use of the facilities inside those buildings as Regulations are intended to be accomplished.

The team from EFC led by #Manique Gunaratne which included persons with diverse #disabilities conducted the Anuradhapura 2 training workshop at the #Corporative #Training #Resort in Anuradhapura district, in #North #Central #Province in January 2022. 

#CDLG is a four-year project (2020-2023) targeting the Eastern, Northern, North-Central and Uva Provinces of Sri Lanka.

It is part of the European Union’s STRIDE (Strengthening Transformation, Reconciliation, and Inclusive Democratic Engagement) programme focused on strengthening the capacities of local government authorities to be inclusive, responsive, and accountable, and improve service delivery.

Together with the Capacity Development of Local Governments (CDLG) Project of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC), implemented this project on Disability accessibility audit and enhancing the capacity of technical officers in the local government structure.

The EFC, with an overall vision statement to promote social harmony through productive employment, is implementing several proactive measures to encourage its members to hire people with disabilities.

The EFC is the representative employers’ Organisation in Sri Lanka on social issues. It has a membership of 700 plus member Companies. Formed in 1929, it was the first Organisation to register under the Trade Unions Ordinance and is the principal Trade Union representing employers. The EFC, with funding from the #ILO, developed the Employers’ Network on Disability to facilitate employment and training opportunities in the Private Sector for disabled jobseekers, which was officially launched in the year 1999. It has a membership of 650 plus Companies. 

The “Disability Accessibility”  project implemented by The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, Specialised Training & #Disability Resource Centre is a part of an initiative supported under the Capacity Development of Local Governments (CDLG) project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka with the financial assistance of the #European #Union (#EU).

Disability #inclusion is one of the key strategic priorities for #UNDP Sri Lanka in keeping with the commitment of UNDP globally and the new initiatives of disability inclusion strategy and their commitment to leave no one behind.

The importance of this workshop was that all resource persons were persons with disabilities. Manique Gunaratne conducted the session on “Technical specifications on accessibility” and Anil Seneviratne conducted the session on “law and access”. People with physical disabilities, hearing impaired persons and vision impaired persons spoke on the barriers faced by persons with disabilities and possible solutions.

Participants with non-disabilities got the opportunity to experience of using a wheel chair, walking with a white cane, walking blind folded, waring socks and shoes without using hands and communicating in sign language.

The Network on Disability is actively serving its purpose by strengthening the link between organizations dealing with disability related issues, business community and persons with disabilities. 


A group photo of seven adults at what looks like a workshop or training session, standing indoors in front of two tall roll-up banners with multiple logos (including UNDP and European Union among others) and the words “THE EMPLOYERS’ FEDERATION OF CEYLON” visible on the right banner. In the front left, one man is seated in a wheelchair wearing a light blue short-sleeve button-up shirt and dark trousers, smiling slightly. Near the center front, another man in a white shirt with red horizontal stripes is smiling broadly and holding a forearm crutch; he also has a lanyard and ID badge. Behind and around them are five others standing close together, all wearing lanyards with badges. From left to right: a man in a lavender long-sleeve shirt; a woman in a dark gray top; a woman in a dark blue outfit with a pink scarf/shawl; a man in a white dress shirt with a tie; and a woman in a red top and black skirt wearing glasses, holding a face mask in her hand. The room has white walls, a large window behind them letting in bright light, and a wooden-patterned floor.

A small meeting or training room with white walls and a wood-pattern floor, set up like a workshop or presentation. In the center foreground, a woman stands and speaks into a handheld microphone. She’s wearing a face mask, a blue sari-style outfit with a patterned skirt, and a name badge on a lanyard. Behind and beside her, two other masked adults are seated: one woman on a chair near the banners, and one man at a table with a laptop and cables. On the left side of the room are two tall roll-up banners. One reads “STRIDE” and another promotes “SPECIALISED TRAINING AND DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTRE,” with additional smaller text and logos near the top. On the right, there’s a whiteboard with some handwritten phone numbers and names (not fully legible at this distance). Several empty chairs are visible in the foreground, and part of an audience member’s head and shoulder appears at the far right edge. A ceiling fan and wall-mounted air-conditioning units are visible high on the walls.

A classroom or meeting hall with about 20 adults seated in rows of black chairs, most wearing face masks and looking down at papers or writing notes. In the foreground, a wooden table holds a small projector that’s turned on, with cables running to a laptop at the bottom left. The laptop screen shows a woman speaking on a video call (head-and-shoulders view against a green background), suggesting this is a hybrid or remote presentation. The room has white walls, a polished wood-pattern floor, a high wooden ceiling, several white ceiling fans, and a large bright window high on the right wall. There are a few empty chairs and some stacked cardboard boxes toward the back right.

A classroom training session with adults seated in rows of black chairs facing the front. The photo is taken from the back of the room, looking toward a whiteboard and a projected image on the left wall (the projection is blurry and not readable). Around a dozen people are visible, mostly men with a few women; many are wearing face masks. The room has white walls, a wooden floor, and ceiling fixtures including a fan, an air conditioner unit above the whiteboard, and a black wall-mounted speaker. Several attendees have notebooks or papers on the small attached writing tablets on their chairs.


#Kishara #Manique Gunaratne

Disability Equality Facilitator qualified from Japan International Corporation Agency (#JICA)


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