Tag Archives: #ManiqueGunaratne

ACCESS FOR ALL AT PADAVIYA PRADESHIYA SABHA

March 20, 2023 Manique

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).

The team from EFC led by #Manique Gunaratne which included persons with diverse disabilities did an disability accessibility checking to give recommendations at Padaviya Pradeshiya Sabha in Anuradhapura district, in North Central Province in December 2021 to give recommendations on how to make the Padaviya Pradeshiya Sabha access for all.

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

Two Advocacy Group discussions were held at the Padaviya Pradeshiya Sabha with persons with disabilities belonging to Padaviya Pradeshiya Sabha and staff members (persons with non-disabilities) of the Pradeshiya Sabha on how to have an inclusive approach when providing services which already exists.

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 structures.

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 700 plus Companies.

(Honoured, Deshabandu) Manique Gunaratne

Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Hearing impaired children receive school books, equipment and uniforms to make the right to education a reality

March 6, 2023 Manique

The Sri Lanka Deaf Rehabilitation Organization’s annual Christmas and New Year celebration was held for the 20th time at the Public Library Auditorium, Colombo in December 2022.
The celebration was held in a grand manner with the participation of all the members and their families of the organization scattered all over the island and a group of special guests and invitees With the aim of raising the educational level of the hearing impaired children and the children of hearing impaired parents. The most unique aspect of this event was distribution of Gift parcel sets including school books, equipment and uniforms were given to all the children to start the new year with a smiling face. Ms. Manique Gunaratne, Ms. Harini Padmasiri, Ms. Geethika Sinhabahu, Ms. Rusiri De Silva and Mr. Windika Jayasinghe donated school books, stationary and other items required for these hearing impaired children to attend school to make the right to education for persons with #disability a reality.

**Distributing packs to hearing impaired children.**

**Handing over the school books to the Secretary of the organization.**

MANIQUE GUNARATNE
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMBhDQ516xwVr86zKLM1HUw

Women with Disabilities

SUPPORTING WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES IN GRASS-ROOT LEVEL ON GBV

February 22, 2023 Manique

Watch the Video at:
https://youtu.be/c-JxhTkK5p4

MANIQUE GUNARATNE
Manager – Specialised Training & Disability Resource Centre
The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon

Employment for Persons with Disabilities, Entrepreneurs with Disabilities

PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURS WITH DISABILITIES

February 19, 2023 Manique

Deshika is a young woman who enjoys music, especially singing; cross-stitching, and hanging out with her friends. She also happens to have a learning disability. She loves to express herself through sewing, handicrafts, and with her mother’s encouragement, is full of ideas for new products. She is a passionate learner who has passed her O/Level English and continues to study IT, music, and sewing online. Deshika’s creative pursuits have given her a big confidence boost! Please contact 0777598861 to place orders.

Dilanthi is an independent and enterprising young woman. She has wide artistic interests, particularly, art, theatre, cooking and handicrafts. She has lived with a visual impairment since the age of 10 and has adapted to her new sensory world with dignity and resilience. While her change in circumstances initially led to a period of isolation, she was able to regain her confidence and indomitable spirit through her creative endeavors. She loves culinary adventures and often cooks for/ with her mother. She is full of initiative and a source of great strength to her family. Please contact 0771845811 to place orders.

Suramya and Arjuna are a formidable mother- son team. When Suramya found out that her son has Autism, she started learning cross stitching to teach her son. Arjuna took to it with gusto! Over the years Arjuna has become a highly skilled craftsman, and the team has made great strides together. The pair now sell their products and provide guidance for other families of children with disabilities to develop and sell their own handicrafts.

The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, Specialised Training & #Disability Resource Centre promotes entrepreneurs with disabilities to make them independent in life. For further details, please contact Manique Gunaratne on 0779571918 or maniqueg@empfed.lk

MANIQUE GUNARATNE
Web: www.employers.lk

Accessibility, Rights of Persons with Disabilities

BOOKS IN ACCESSIBLE FORMATS AT THE NOCHCHIYAGAMA PRADESHIYA SABHA LIBRARY

February 19, 2023 Manique

Negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities arise from a lack of understanding of disability and what it’s like to live in a world with individuals who do not share that experience. Therefore, disability accessibility initiatives greatly support to bring a change to create an inclusive approach.

The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, Specialised Training & #Disability Resource Centre in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union (EU) took the initiative to implement a project to provide recommendations on Disability #Accessibility and Capacity Building of Local Government Authorities in Sri Lanka. This project is 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).

The team from EFC led by #Manique Gunaratne which included persons with diverse disabilities did an disability accessibility checking to give recommendations at Nochchiyagama Pradeshiya Sabha Library in Anuradhapura district, in North Central Province in December 2021 to give recommendations on how to make the Nochchiyagama Pradeshiya Sabha Library access for all and provided audio and e-books in May 2022 to make the Library Accessible for vision impaired persons.

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

Two Advocacy Group discussions were held at the Nochchiyagama Pradeshiya Sabha with persons with disabilities belonging to Nochchiyagama Pradeshiya Sabha and staff members (persons with non-disabilities) of the Pradeshiya Sabha on how to have an inclusive approach when providing services which already exists.

The EFC is the representative employers’ Organisation in Sri Lanka on social issues.

**Handing over the audio and e-books to the Library**

**Installing the screen reader to the computer**

**Checking audio and e-books in the computer**

MANIQUE GUNARATNE
Web: www.employers.lk

Rights of Persons with Disabilities

LIGHTING DIGITAL CAPACITY

January 31, 2023 Manique

Manique Gunaratne is engaged in inclusion of persons with #disabilities in the Lighting Digital Capacity Building Drive and regional development initiatives of ICTA for the citizen empowerment and youth sector. With the critical foundational work completed and multiple initiatives ongoing; ICTA plans to facilitate the adoption and rolling-out initiatives island-wide with a Regional Development Drive.

The ICTA hosted a Stakeholder Engagement Forum at the Information & Technology Agency (ICTA) Auditorium in December 2022 for Citizen Capacity Building as part of the Lighting Digital National Forum. This offers a space for retrospect, the exchange of success stories, knowledge, problems, lessons learned, technological innovation, and other issues related to Citizen capacity building on digital transformation, the identification, and improvement of key initiatives for 2023, and the exploration of potential partner collaborations.

MANIQUE GUNARATNE
Mobile – 0094779571918

Employment for Persons with Disabilities

Supported Employment for Persons with Disabilities

January 31, 2023 Manique

Follow the link:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/touch-asian-colour-brightens-ups-dull-northern-week-norman/

MANIQUE GUNARATNE
Manager – Specialised Training & Disability Resource Centre
The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon

Assistive Devices for Persons with Disabilities

CHESS BOARD

January 31, 2023 Manique

Watch the Video at:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=H0h7iEDMO5Q&feature=share

MANIQUE GUNARATNE

Accessibility

ACCESS FOR ALL AT DIMBULAGALA PRADESHIYA SABHA

January 2, 2023 Manique

People with disabilities are more likely than the general population to suffer anxiety, discomfort, and animosity. To a significant measure, such attitudes arise from a lack of understanding of disability and what it’s like to live in a world with individuals who do not share that experience. Therefore, this initiative greatly supported to bring a change to create an inclusive approach.

The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, Specialised Training & Disability Resource Centre in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union (EU) took the initiative to implement a project to provide recommendations on Disability Accessibility and Capacity Building of Local Government Authorities in Sri Lanka. This project is 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).

The team from EFC led by Manique Gunaratne which included persons with diverse disabilities did an disability accessibility checking to give recommendations at Dimbulagala Pradeshiya Sabha, in Polonnaruwa district, in North Central Province in January 2022 to give recommendations on how to make the Dimbulagala Pradeshiya Sabha access for all.

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

2 Advocacy Group discussions were held at the Dimbulagala Pradeshiya Sabha with persons with disabilities belonging to Dimbulagala Pradeshiya Sabha and staff members (persons with non-disabilities) of the Pradeshiya Sabha on how to have an inclusive approach when providing services which already exists.

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.

MANIQUE GUNARATNE
The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon,
385 J3 Old Kotte Road,
Rajagiriya,
Sri Lanka.

Media Campaign

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2022

January 2, 2023 Manique

Celebrating the International Day of Women is very important for women with disability to just as a woman but also a woman with a disability. It is a day that the entire world recognizes the plight of women and the efforts that have been channeled towards achieving gender equality. The 2022 theme for International Women’s Day was ‘Gender Equality for a Sustainable Tomorrow’ with the campaign #BreakTheBias. This theme speaks volumes to the challenges that women face and the immense potential that can be unlocked if we created a society that supports women empowerment and equality.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day it is also very critical for us to acknowledge different realities for different populations of women. One of this population is women and girls with disabilities who face compounded vulnerabilities in the society for being of a female sex and also for having a disability. These vulnerabilities tend to increase depending on the social and economic factors. It’s for these reasons that girls and women with disability should be involved in the commemoration of Women’s Day and the fight for gender equity and equality.

Girls with disability can be involved in the celebrations of the International Women’s Day through self-advocacy to create awareness on the challenges and barriers they face and recommend solutions to those challenges. Self-advocacy is a very practical concept when it comes to raising awareness on disability issues as persons with disabilities are the experts of their different life experiences and empowering them to do self-advocacy is one of the right things to do.

Manique Gunaratne spoke on importance of including women with disability on International Day for Women at a program at Yarl TV in March 2022.

MANIQUE GUNARATNE
BOARD MEMBER NAVAJEEVANA REHABILITATION