Local economic development of people with disability through active advocacy for an inclusive policy Indonesia NLR Indonesia LEAP In 2017, NLR Indonesia, funded by the Netherlands Embassy, commited to realize a better inclusion of people with disability in economic sector through Local Economic development of people with disability through active Advocacy for inclusive Policy (LEAP) Project. The project will focus on strengthening capacity of DPOs on lobby and advocacy by conducting series of activities including survey, training, workshops, discussions, and public campaigns. To implement this project, NLR will collaborate with local DPOs. There are 3 district/city in South Sulawesi, namely Makassar, Bulukumba District, and North Toraja District. Following are expected outcomes (objectives) of the project:
1.	District/city have a comprehensive publicly available database of the characteristics of PwDs and the map on the availability, accessibility and reliability of work enforcement and services for PwDs
2.	Public (include PwDs and DPOs) push the government and private sectors to create inclusive disability policies in the work environment
3.	Government and private sectors adopt a dissemination model about inclusive disability in the work environment The right to work, as a fundamental right, has been comprehensively recognized in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which was ratified by the Government of Indonesia in 2005. This instrument recognized that every individual, including people with disabilities, has the right to be able to work and allowing him/her to live in dignity. The fact that people with disabilities have the same rights is also highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) / Agenda 2030, explicitly calling for the inclusion of people with disabilities, amongst them the right to work. Paragraph 23 of Agenda 2030 calls for the empowerment of vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities. This section also states that 80% of people with disabilities are poor, which is an important finding as it puts people with disabilities at the centre of poverty reduction. 

In terms of fulfilling work rights for persons with (PwD), Indonesia has made some progress specifically through notably Law No 8/2016 as a follow-up to Law No 19/2011 on the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that further clarifies PwD’s rights, one of which is the rights to work and entrepreneurship (article 5). Law No. 8/2016 states that the Government and local Governments are obliged to carry out planning, implementation and evaluation towards protection and fulfilment of the rights of persons with disabilities. In order to execute this order, the existence of local government regulations (Indonesian: Peraturan Daerah or its acronym Perda) is important and has been achieved due to persistent advocacy of disabilities groups in several provinces and districts. As Perda only arranges principal matters, it is usually necessary to add derivatives on the lower level:  Gubernatorial Regulation (Peraturan Gubernur/Pergub) for provinces and Perbup/Perwali (Peraturan Bupati/Peraturan Walikota) for districts and cities. Several districts/cities have been incorporated this law into Perda/Pergub. However, in reality, the implementation of this policy is still far from the expectations, especially regarding access to the right to work of PwDs. Therefore, advocacy on the implementation of existing regulations is also very important.

According to the WHO's World Disability Report 2010, 15% of the world's population has disabilities - over 40 million people in Indonesia. Surveys in Indonesia show different and significantly lower numbers due to the use of several different instruments and definitions of disabilities, varying kinds and purposes of surveys, and certainly also the level of education provided to enumerators. Since about 2010, Indonesian government agencies generally use an adapted set of the Washington Group questions for polls, following UN standards. As a result of looking for functional difficulties instead of disabilities, current surveys show higher numbers, e.g. 8.56% in SUPAS 2015 and 12.15% in Sakernas 2016.

In South Sulawesi, according to SUPAS data, 10.22% of the population over the age of 10 has a disability; the province ranks 4 of all provinces. District databases with numbers of people with disabilities are incomplete, and since the databases vary in their purpose, they contain very different sets of data. Numbers of people with disabilities in these databases usually don’t exceed 3% of the population. According to Sakernas, 79% of people with disabilities over 15 years in Indonesia have multiple disabilities. With 55%, the most frequent type of disability is visual impairments (55%), followed by mobility restrictions of the lower body (32%) and hearing impairments (16%). Intellectual disabilities make up less than 1%. Indonesians with visual and hearing impairments have the highest percentages of employment amongst them. Persons with mobility impairment of the lower body have low percentages of work, which may indicate the importance of manual work compared to jobs that do not require walking, often formal work. **comprehensive database publicly available**
1. data collection and assessment of disability on employment issue (year 1-2)
2. socialization of the project (year 2)
3. interactive disability sensitization for government and private sectors (year 2)
**public push the government and private sectors to create inclusive disability poliies**
1. training on policies on social economic development (year 2)
2. lobby & advocacy training for DPOs (year 2)
3. soft-skill and entrepreneurship training for PwDs
4. disability festival (exhibition, rally discussion, public campaign, etc)
5. establishment disability forum (at district and province)
6. legal drafting process 
**government and private sectors adopt dissemination model**
1. development of exit strategy
2. production success story video and articles
3. dissemination workshop The data from Ministry of Manpower year 2015 claims that there are 5.598.764 persons in the working age population with a disability. 1,98% of that amount, is working. This means, most of the working-age disability population do not have a job (unemployed). According to LEAP baseline findings, local government officials and employers still lack adequate knowledge, awareness and an understanding of disability which contributes to the ineffective inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce. Whilst quota regulations compel businesses to employ people with disabilities since 1997, hardly anybody knows about this policy. Even if employers knew about their obligation, they would not know how to “find” people with disabilities and how to employ them. The fear of economic disadvantages however is number one of their hesitations.
 
Low educational attainment and limited access to vocational trainings hinders people with disabilities to acquire skills required in the labour market. They are hardly supported by sustainable government or CSO programs based on international standards in the field of disability. Physical barriers, aggravated by limited access to assistive devices and rehabilitation remain a major hindrance to employment of people with disabilities. 

Despite these barriers, the findings identified promising facilitators to inclusive employment. Existing laws and regulations at national and local levels provide a sufficient legal framework though implementation of these policies and laws remains a huge challenge. Additionally, a small number of initiatives and programmes aiming at inclusive employment are available, on which it is possible to further build. The study also found that old stigmatising perceptions are softening and a promising openness from government and private sectors stakeholders, forming an important entry point for promoting inclusive employment. **PARTNERSHIP WITH LOCAL DPO**
LEAP Project is expected to capacitate Disabled People Organizations to be able to conduct evidence-based lobby and advocacy through a series of training, discussions, and regular meeting. The advocacy plan developed by the DPO through a series of activities will become the organization's work plan. This strategy is carried out to ensure the sustainability of the project. This is based on the idea that local DPOs are actors who interact directly with the local governments so that the capacity given, especially related to advocacy, can be a basis in advocating with the local government in the future.
This project also promotes the involvement of people with disabilities by recruiting DPO members as a team for managing activities in three targeted areas. Through this strategy, people with disabilities have the opportunity to actualize themselves in joint work with various parties. This also automatically encourages their self-confidence because they become accustomed to interacting with many people (government, business sectors, and communities).

**PARTNERSHIP WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT**
The involvement of local governments as resource persons, facilitators, as well as participants in each project activity, and even encouraging them to be involved in managing joint activities in the project is assumed as the effective strategy in promoting sustainability. Through this strategy, the government is expected to increase their understanding and awareness as well as get learning about inclusive activity models related to the rights and employment opportunities and entrepreneurs for persons with disabilities. It purposes the local government can give their commitment in following up on the initiatives in each project area.

By this project, the team also strives to collaborate with local government in building comprehensive data on persons with disabilities especially in relation to workforce issues, and encourages this data to be accessed and utilized by the public, especially for business sectors to find potential PwDs to be employed. This will be carried out with intensive coordination with the Manpower Office (especially in Makassar and Bulukumba), considering that disability data preparation is also one of the agenda of their activities.

The establishment or revitalization of multi-stakeholder forums at the district and provincial levels is also a sustainability strategy of the project. This can be recognized because the existence of the forum that consist of local government, CSOs, DPOs, business sectors, and academics, will be directed to be able to discuss various disability issues, one of them on the topic of employment and entrepreneurship. The project team has been identified several discussion themes for the forum including the database of PwDs and mapping the roles and capacities of each sectors/party to encourage disability inclusion.

**THE PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY WITH BUSINESS SECTOR**
Efforts to involve the business sector have begun by involving business sectors in various activities. In baseline study, business sectors are interviewed as key respondent to identify their perception on inclusive work. Also, they are invited to share their experiences in promoting  inclusive work in socialization workshop. The project will also facilitate a series of sensitization activities for business sectors so that they have new experience interacting with persons with disabilities and know the models to implement inclusive employment opportunities from the other companies. Providing stimulants to business sectors is also expected to encourage business sector interest in applying the principle of inclusiveness in the work environment. This strategy is based on the findings of the baseline study which found that financial loss since companies have to provide reasonable accommodation when hiring people with disabilities, to ensure a level playing ground for them, which means additional costs. Through this strategy, business sector is expected to be able to give their commitment in providing opportunities for persons with disabilities and creating inclusive employment opportunities. better inclusion of people with disabilities in employment, through strengthening lobby and advocacy capacity of Disabled People Organisations (DPOs) Target groups of the project
1. Knowledge creation: Local governments, private sector and DPOs
2. Awareness raising: Government and private sector
3. Reinforcement: Private sector and DPOs
4. Act & connect: Local private sector, Local policy makers, person with disabilities, DPOs