More inclusive space

PERSONS with disability like to thrive in the business world too but the environment is not inclusive enough to provide them that springboard.

A more inclusive environment through education is needed to make sure persons with disability are developed not only to fill jobs but to also lead as entrepreneurs and be creators of jobs.

Tetra Tech International director Georgina Naigulevu made the comment at a panel discussion on empowering inclusivity and advancing MSMEs for persons with disability at the inaugural MSME Conference in Suva last Friday.

She said it was important for persons with disability to be remembered in business, and to have “uncomfortable conversations on disability entrepreneurs who are wanting to break into that industry”.

“And MSMEs are areas where they want to thrive on,” said Ms Naigulevu, a person born with disability herself and has worked in the ICT industry for 20-plus years.

“You see a lot of persons with disability in the rural communities in Fiji who have their canteen shops or doing a lot more in the agriculture and fisheries spaces.

“But what we want to see is that they are empowered through incubators and accelerator programs or through special funding through government legislation.”

Ms Naigulevu said Fiji’s Employment Relations Act stated that Fiji needed “two per cent of persons with disability to be employed in the businesses”.

“One of the key challenges that we face is that we are not able to meet that quota.”

She said considering and addressing issues key to the development of persons with disability could “also spark innovation in the way you can do things differently”.