- FWD Life Insurance and Humanity & Inclusions aim to help young PWDs find work.
- The two companies also want to end the stigma that disability means inability.
- The partnership will teach people to treat PWDs like people, because they are people.
FWD Life Insurance, the most exciting insurance brand in the country, together with its partner Humanity & Inclusion (formerly known as
Handicap International, an independent international aid organization), celebrated the beginning of the Forward Together project, helping young people with disabilities find employment opportunities in the Philippines and beyond.
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 people with disabilities in Asia.
With FWD Group investing USD 1million, 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.
Ending the Stigma of Inability
“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 & 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.”
FWD Life Philippines and Humanity & Inclusion celebrated the beginning of its Forward Together project with a media event, an interactive visual language activity, and escape room challenge participated by volunteers from both organizations as well as members of the media, held on October 17, 2018, at Century City Mall in Makati City.
During the event, we were able to work with FWD and Humanity & Inclusions staff in a teamwork activity at Mystery Manila located in Century Mall. The mission was to solve a puzzle inside an enclosed chamber. All the members were put in chains and the lock combinations can only be solved with teamwork.
For our team, we were able to truly experience what it feels like to be a person with disability. We have to solve the puzzle with some of us being blind, mute, and deaf. It’s a challenge, but with teamwork and relying on each other’s senses, we were able to break through. It was an amazing experience.
Another activity also includes a game for mute and deaf persons. It’s a sign language game where you use your imagination and describe it through actions. It was a quiet game, but it was fun nonetheless.
Investing in young PWDs who are usually overlooked
“Developing countries are encouraged to invest in youth, but unfortunately, young people with disabilities are usually overlooked in employment and entrepreneurial opportunities,” said Bryan Andrew Marsalis, Humanity & 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.”
“At FWD, we are committed to promoting social inclusion and active participation of persons with disabilities, and are very excited to kick-start our work with Humanity & Inclusion,” said FWD Life Philippines Head of Marketing and Community Care Country Lead Roche Vandenberghe. “With the Forward Together project, we are enabling businesses and organizations such as ours to become catalysts for quality job creation.”
