Insurance firm, group to help PWDs find jobs
FWD Life Insurance has partnered with Humanity and Inclusion for a project to help young persons with disabilities (PWDs) find employment in the country and beyond.
Humanity and Inclusion, formerly known as Handicap International, is an independent international aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Its project with FWD is called Forward Together.
Through the regional partnership initially announced by the insurer in the first half of 2018, both organizations will work towards advocating equal opportunities and empowering PWDs in Asia. With FWD Group investing $1 million, the Forward Together project will train at least 380 youth with disabilities in the Philippines and Indonesia and help them secure sustainable employment or business opportunities.
“FWD Life Philippines aims to end the stigma that disability corresponds to inability,” FWD Life Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Grimes said. “Through our partnership with Humanity and Inclusion, we hope to provide a platform for people with disabilities to showcase their strengths and abilities. We want to encourage everyone to help create a future with a difference for people with disabilities with opportunities to become valuable and equal contributors to the community.”
“Developing countries are encouraged to invest in youth, but unfortunately, young people with disabilities are usually overlooked in employment and entrepreneurship opportunities,” said Bryan Andrew Marsalis, Humanity and Inclusion regional operation coordinator. “That is why we are very delighted to have such strong support from FWD Group in our advocacy of improving the lives of youth with disabilities. Through this project, we will work with selected employers — including FWD Group — across the two target countries to improve their capacity to employ youth with disabilities.”
FWD Life Insurance launched its Philippine operations in September 2014. The FWD Group spans Hong Kong and Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Japan, offering life and medical insurance, general insurance, and employee benefits across a number of its markets.
Established in Asia in 2013, FWD is the insurance business arm of investment group, Pacific Century Group. In the Philippines, FWD has 12 business hubs located in key cities nationwide with its headquarters in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. FWD is focused on creating fresh customer experiences, with easy-to-understand products, supported by digital technology. Through this customer-led approach, FWD aims to become a leading pan-Asian insurer that changes the way people feel about insurance.
Founded in 1982 in refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border and a co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, Humanity and Inclusion works in 59 countries globally, with additional offices in eight high-income countries.