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DRC and MCRB Publish New Guide on CSR and Disability for Companies in Myanmar
The Deaf Resources Centre (DRC) and Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) have published a guide on Corporate Social Responsibility and Disability’ (CSR-D) in English and Myanmar languages.
The Deaf Resources Centre (DRC) and Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) have published a guide on Corporate Social Responsibility and Disability’ (CSR-D) in both English and Myanmar languages.
The Guide aims to offer a tool for companies that want to integrate people with disabilities into their CSR policy, increase the level and quality of employment for people with disabilities and contribute to the quality improvement of products and services that people with disabilities demand as consumers.
Vicky Bowman, Director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, said:
“MCRB is committed to making toolkits and other resources available in the Myanmar language. We want to build the capacity of government, civil society and business to adopt responsible business practices and international resources.
“We were pleased to work with the Deaf Resources Centre on this Guide, which was originally produced by Fundacion ONCE and published with the co-funding of the European Social Fund. We have adapted it to the Myanmar context and have translated it.
“We hope that Myanmar businesses will use the self-diagnostic questionnaire included in the guide to review how they can include people with disabilities in their business, both as employees and as customers. We also hope that others will use it to increase their understanding of what inclusive business is”.
Ko Kyaw Kyaw, Director of the Deaf Resources Centre, which is part of the Myanmar Deaf Community Development Association (MDDCA), said:
“International and domestic investments are increasing due to the new civilian government’s political and economic reforms. This transition period is a good time for all of us to work together with the growing business community to include disability in CSR”.
“The Myanmar Deaf Community Development Association is very pleased to have produced this guidebook in collaboration with the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business. We strongly believe that mainstreaming disability in CSR will not only promote the rights of citizens with disabilities but also increase the country’s GDP. It also means that the business community is contributing to Myanmar’s implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UN-CRPD) and the emergence of a new national Law on Disability.”
Background
yanmar was the 108th state to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities in December 2011. A draft Myanmar law on Protection of Persons with Disabilities is under discussion, which will include requirements for businesses.
Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) is a Yangon-based initiative funded by the UK, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands and Ireland, based on a collaboration between the UK-based Institute of Human Rights and Business, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights. The Centre was established in 2013 to provide an effective and legitimate platform for the creation of knowledge, capacity and dialogue concerning responsible business in Myanmar, based on local needs and international standards, which results in more responsible business practices. It is a neutral platform working with businesses, civil society and government.
Myanmar Deaf Community Development Association, MDCDA is an independent non-profit, non-religious and non-political organization of persons with hearing impairment. It was established in March 2009 by nine deaf leaders in together with three social development specialists. The goal of MDCDA is to protect and promote the rights of people with hearing impairment and other types of disabilities in line with National Constitution and UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN-CRPD). MDCDA was acknowledged by the Department of Social Welfare in May 2009, and applied for registration at the Ministry of Home Affairs in September 2009. Currently, MDCDA is working in partnership with government ministries, UN agencies, international NGOs, local CSOs, human rights institutes and disabled people’s organizations.
Fundación ONCE, a Spanish NGO supporting people with disabilities, runs the European Network for Corporate Social Responsibility and Disability (CSR+D), a project co-funded by the European Social Fund, which offers a wide range of resources on business and disability. Their original CSR-D guide was published in 2009.
