|
|
|
March 2, 2006
A valiant visionary
Simon Minty feels encouraged by the interest that Pakistanis show towards disability issues and says that discussions between corporations and disabled people will ensure that the latter group finds its rightful place in the workforce, writes Mary Lou Andrew
He may be shorter in stature than the average person on the street, but Simon Minty's vision is much broader than most people twice his height. Minty has spent the last several years working to encourage corporations in the UK and abroad to view disabled people as prospective employees and hire them on their skills and abilities rather than discriminate against them on their disability.
On a recent short trip to Pakistan to help the British Council unveil new research regarding how disabled people can be effectively utilised in the workplace, Minty spoke about this own early years and experiences that encouraged him to further the cause of the disabled people.
Considering that Minty's shorter stature is sure to turn a few heads almost everywhere he goes, his childhood, he explains was "quite normal". "I was always aware that I was short but that was pretty normal for me."
Surrounded by friends who did not make distinctions based on his height, Minty says he was rather successful with the ladies during his teenage years. While he did have limited walking abilities, transportation in the form of buggies was generally available during school trips and Minty's friends would enjoy pushing him around.
At 18, Minty showed definite signs of rebellion, opting not to go to university and choosing to do administrative work with a government firm instead. Later he was persuaded by a family friend to apply for a job in banking.
Responding to a comment regarding the factors that shape disabled peoples' experiences, Minty says that there can be lots of short people with very different experiences. "Some may have faced discrimination, rejection, they may have been born into poverty or may not be properly educated –– these are the critical issues, not whether you are short or tall."
After seven years in the banking sector, Minty quit his job and decided to go travelling and backpacked across Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. At the same time, he also dabbled in writing film and theatre reviews and short travel pieces for local disability publications.
As news of his work spread, Minty was asked by a TV station in the UK to host a short travel documentary in Beijing, China. His travels abroad took him out of his comfort zone and made him realise that people in other cultures viewed him differently than at home.
"We didn't have permission to film in China," explains Minty, "so here I was, a short white guy with a camera crew, which people found utterly fascinating. However, what had always been normal for me was suddenly very different."
His conversations with people in different parts of the world also made him realise that while disabled people had come a long way from, say, 20 years ago, people's attitudes, which included feeling sympathy and pity, meant that they still had a long way to go.
Back in the UK, Minty spent six months working with local disability organisations to get a feel for the work they were doing and eventually went back to university first to study philosophy for three years, and then to complete a part time masters degree in disability management.
As luck would have it, Minty met Phil Friend who was running an organisation that worked on diversity issues and bought part of the business. Since then he has worked with many large organisations, and it became easy to convince them that disabled people need to be hired for their skills and abilities.
For employers concerned about the profitability of hiring disabled employees, Minty says they use three points to try and convince them; moral, legal and financial. "We ask them whether they would like to live in a society which excludes disabled people and the answer to that is normally no. Then there is legislation which makes it illegal to discriminate against disabled people financially as disabled people are consumers so you have to accommodate them accordingly."
Minty explains that while a change in attitudes is the ultimate aim of the exercise, attitudes can often take generations to change. "Behaviour, on the other hand, can be changed immediately," says Minty, "so when I meet enlightened people within organisations who are willing to build the ramps and put extra systems into place, it is a step in the right direction."
Talking about Pakistani attitudes towards disability, Minty understands that there are many competing issues which are greater priorities than disability and equality. Even still he is encouraged by the interest that Pakistanis have shown towards disability issues and says that discussions between corporations and disabled people will ensure that the latter group finds its rightful place in the workforce.
And while Minty says that trips to Pakistan are great to raise awareness and the profile of the cause of disabled people, such discussions need to be followed up with concrete steps in the right direction. He also believes that disabled people require greater representation in the media, for which he and his partner are working.
Through his work on disability issues, Minty is already raising the profile of the disabled people everywhere, so that people can view them as equal partners in progress rather than people who have to be excluded from the workplace based on their disability.
| Disability and the workplace |
| The British Council recently organised a
job attachment with the Karachi Vocational Centre, whereby 14 disabled
people were trained in standard workplace tasks for a period of two weeks
and eventually placed in jobs which suited their skills and abilities. The
job attachment was part of a pilot project, the findings of which were
disseminated at a seminar at the Aga Khan University titled, "Disability: a
valuable human resource in the workplace." The other objective of the seminar was to introduce Simon Minty who has worked on making organisations more aware of the benefits of hiring disabled people. As keynote speaker, Minty tried to make people aware of the issues involved in such an endeavour and how dialogue between key stakeholders is essential in bringing about change. The Chief Guest at the event, Zubeida Jalal, Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education, underlined the government's policy regarding disabled people, and stressed the need for private and public sector partnerships in raising the profile of the issue. The speeches were followed by a panel discussion; panelists included Ameena Saiyid of the OUP, Raza Banday Ali of the Aga Khan Social Welfare Board, Bari from the Karachi Chamber of Commerce, Simon Minty and Dr Inam-ur-Rehman, a psychiatrist with the Aga Khan Social Welfare Board. — MLA |
|
|
|
|
