Creation of special facilities for the education, training, rehabilitation and empowerment of people with disabilities is of central importance. A large number of such people are currently unable to earn a sustained livelihood owing to limited or non-existent opportunities, inflicted as they are with disabilities ranging from physical to mental. The percentage of physical disabilities is far more because of factors such as genetic impairment, disease, natural disasters (earthquakes and floods), and drone attacks. Other causes that contribute to a high rate of physical disabilities are doctors’ negligence, use of expired medicine, pre-mature births and medical unawareness.
To address these issues, the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund has launched the Enterprise Development Training Programme to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities by ensuring their inclusion in every field of life, with an aim to impart useful skills to disabled people. Under this programme, the fund would also help people with disabilities develop their own business plans with its “Business Incubation” section, financing them to establish businesses of their own choice immediately after undergoing the training programme. Through its network of partner organisations spread across 128 districts of the country, the fund has also launched a phased survey to identify people with disabilities and their inclination towards certain businesses. The technical experts assess the needs of people with disabilities and assistive devices and training are provided to them based on the assessment.
Other than devices, people with general medical problems were referred to various hospitals under special arrangements. Attendant training for family members of the severely disabled is also provided under the programme so that they are tended to properly. As a pilot project, it has imparted enterprise development training to a batch of 42 people with disabilities, 14 of them women, in Multan. Participants underwent eight days of training, after which 30 out of the 42 were provided financial assistance to start their own small businesses selling groceries, bangles and mobile phone accessories and encouraged to ply various trades such as tailoring.
