There is an immediate opening for a part-time position for Bangladesh Work Placement Coordinator for Disability Rights Promotion International’s Asian Workplace Approach that Respects Equality (AWARE) project.

DRPI is a collaborative project working to establish a holistic and sustainable global system to monitor the human rights of people with disabilities. DRPI has begun a five-year employment project, funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada. This employment project will identify and address the key labour market causes of chronic unemployment, underemployment and poverty of women and men with disabilities in three urban areas in three countries: Bangladesh (Dhaka); India (Hyderabad); and Nepal (Kathmandu). DRPI’s International Coordination Centre is based at York University in Toronto, Canada. With the support and partnership of Bangladesh Protibandhi Kallyan Somity (BPKS), DRPI has established a Country Office for Bangladesh in Dhaka.

The DRPI project is guided by the belief that people with all types of disabilities and their representative organizations should be actively involved in all aspects of disability rights monitoring. DRPI uses a holistic approach to monitoring disability rights, focusing on three inter-related areas: individual experiences (gathering information about the personal experiences of people with disabilities), systems (assessing laws, policies and programs impacting the rights of people with disabilities) and societal attitudes (examining the coverage and depiction of disability in the media). The AWARE project will use this holistic approach to expose the systemic barriers to employment faced by people with disabilities in the region. AWARE will provide awareness campaigns and trainings workshops to employers and policy-makers to influence systemic change, and develop inclusive employment strategies. It will also work to provide the skills people with disabilities need to be employed. The aim of this project will be to increase the opportunities and ability of people with disabilities to participate in the workforce. Further information may be found on the project website at http://www.yorku.ca/drpi/.

The position will involve working under the direction of DRPI’s Co-Director and the project’s Principle Investigator (Marcia Rioux), DRPI’s Project Coordinator (Paula Hearn), and project partners located in Bangladesh, and other researchers to:

Duties:

• Will work alongside the Country Coordinator, DRPI AWARE Canadian team, and local DPO partners
• Will be a liaison between people with disabilities and employers
• Will provide support to company human resource departments to build inclusive workplaces, and facilitate successful workplace accommodations
• Will provide resources and collect requests from employers related to hiring and employing people with disabilities (including workplace accommodations)
• Will connect and liaise with skills training providers, disability specific skills training providers, and job search companies.

Qualifications:

• Background in, and knowledge of, industry and employers in the local city (Dhaka, Hyderabad, or Kathmandu).
• Strong networking and collaborative skills combined with an enthusiasm to build partnerships with employers across the spectrum of industries.
• Prior experience addressing workplace accommodations and adaptations
• Prior experience with work placement coordination.
• Skills to communicate and collaborate with local DPOs, employers, international partners and other stakeholders.
• Ability to work both independently and as an effective team member.
• Computer proficiency and strong administrative skills.
• Post-secondary degree in the area of Human Resources, labour relations, disability studies, or business.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English and at least one local language.

Preferred:

• Citizen or resident of Bangladesh
• Someone with background knowledge of disability rights
• Personal experience of disability and/or working with people with disabilities.
• Fluency in other languages spoken in India, Bangladesh, or Nepal is a strong asset.

Applications will be accepted until February 1, 2015 (at noon, Dhaka time).

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and their résumé in English to both of the following email address: drpi_aware@yorku.ca AND hrr@bpksbd.org

Please state “APPLICATION – BANGLADESH WORK PLACEMENT COORDINATOR” in the subject line of the email.

For further information about this posting, please contact:

Dr. Marcia Rioux or Paula Hearn
Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI)

York University, 4700 Keele St., Suite 5021,TEL Building, Toronto, ON  M3J 1P3, Canada

telephone:          +1 416 736 2100 extension 20718
email:                   drpi_aware@yorku.ca