BANGKOK, Dec 4: Global IT major WIPRO and a small India-based company that recycles waste into marketable products are among three businesses to be awarded the inaugural ESCAP-Sasakawa Award for Disability-Inclusive Business in Asia and the Pacific.
WIPRO won the ‘Disability-inclusive multinational enterprise’ award for its excellence in including employees with disabilities in its business operations, enabling mainstream careers for them and for supporting them through accessible software applications.
The awards were presented by United Nations Under-Secretary-General and chief of the Bangkok-based UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Noeleen Heyzer at a ceremony here yesterday.
“Our disability-inclusive business model was formalized in 2009. It has proved to be very successful for our employees as well as our customers,” said Mr Isaac George, Vice-President, Human Resources, WIPRO.
The ‘Disability-inclusive entrepreneurial business’ award was given to Trash to Cash, a company recycling waste into marketable products. “Sixty five per cent of our workforce is comprised persons with disabilities. In combination with our environmentally conscientious approach, this business model is not only profitable, it is sustainable,” company Chief Executive Officer Madhumita Puri said.
As part of the Award, Trash to Cash will receive a grant of between US 50,000-100,000 dollars to scale up its business model in 10 other Indian cities.
A Singapore hotel, Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre, won the ‘Disability-inclusive national or subnational enterprise’ award. Thirteen per cent of the hotel’s staff are persons with disabilities and it aims to raise this share to 20 per cent over the next three years.
The ESCAP-Sasakawa Award was established by ESCAP, The Nippon Foundation and the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability.
A pioneering concept, Disability-Inclusive Business views persons with disabilities as an untapped workforce and a market with significant purchasing power. There are over 650 million persons with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific region.
“By addressing the needs of persons with disabilities, we can lift people out of poverty and provide them with a dignified life, while developing new – and expanding present – market shares,” Ms Heyzer said.
(UNI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
