This will provide a one-stop site for adjoining job searchers (differently-abled) as well as job posters. The Open Mind Pakistan 2019 edition kicked off in January 2019, where 20 candidates were shortlisted for the programme after fair and impartial testing and screening processes, specially modified to be accessible for the visual and hearing impaired.
To further empower this initiative, Telenor Pakistan in collaboration with the Unilever Pakistan and Special Talented Exchange Programme (STEP) designed and launched the all new job portal which solidifies career sustainability for PWDs and aid in their job-hunting excursions.
The portal is first of its kind in Pakistan and the elementary aspect of this initiative enables a large network of potential employers to post selective jobs for special citizens. Other key features include job opportunities, information regarding rights and services, database of beneficiaries and providers, skills development and training, entrepreneurship, and micro-financing.
"It makes us really proud to see how this one-of-a-kind programme has now grown into an industry best practice for organisations striving to become more diverse, inclusive and open-minded," said Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO Telenor Pakistan and Head of Telenor Emerging Asia Cluster, at the graduation ceremony.
"This is one of the many powerful ways how innovatively Telenor Pakistan is pursuing its mission of empowering the Pakistani society and mainstreaming the marginalised segments of its population. I congratulate the graduates of the 6th batch of Open Mind Pakistan and with the launch of the Disability Job Portal. I look forward to see increased employment opportunities for the differently-abled," he added.
Executive Director STEP Atif Sheikh said, "By following the example we set today, the corporate sector through continued collaboration with disabled people's organisations can efficiently contribute towards an inclusive society. These initiatives can be further scaled up through policy making at the government level."
In continuation of OMP, Disability Job Centre portal will establish awareness and help the differently-abled identify their skills and apply them to benefit the corporate world as well as their own livelihood. This, undoubtedly, will create a level playing field for all and aid the professional progression of individuals based on merit and not on physical abilities/disabilities.
Under the Open Mind Pakistan programme, 92 extraordinary individuals have been inducted since 2013with three-fourth of them managing to land a job. Being an equal opportunity employer, Telenor Pakistan has focused on empowering the society by building strategic partnerships, raising awareness through advocacy, trainings and volunteerism, ensuring building accessibility and enabling inclusion in the workforce, and, hence, adding more to its arsenal of corporate responsibility.