Blind Independence Can Be Improved By Implementing Inclusive Research Results

JAKARTA - Law Number 8 of 2016 concerning Persons with Disabilities and their laws and regulations regulate the labor revenue quota system, which is 1% in private companies and 2% in government agencies.

However, the fact is that the law has not been implemented properly. Data in 2023-from Australia - Indonesia Disability Research and Advocacy Network (AIDRAN) shows that blind people in Indonesia reach 1.5% of the total population (about 4 million people), but only 1% of the total people with disabilities who work in the formal sector.

This condition encourages the implementation of a collaborative study between the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam to learn things that are a factor in the success of blind people who have succeeded in working in the formal sector, so that later these factors can be accelerated through programs recommended by research results.

Research with the topic of Key Factors for the Success of the Blind working in the Formal Sector is carried out by three institutions that provide assistance to the visually impaired, namely Mitra Netra (Indonesia), Resources of the Blind (Philippine), and Sao Mai Center (Vietnam), and are supported by The Nippon Foundation as donors.

"The Nippon Foundation supports this study to identify internal and external factors that hinder visually disabled people from getting job opportunities, especially what are the successes and failures of work through evidence-based research, so that visually disabled people can gain access to safer jobs after completing higher education," said Yosuke Ishikawa, Program Director of The Nippon Foundation in the Melawai area, South Jakarta, Thursday, October 3.

"Through this research, The Nippon Foundation hopes that the Mitra Netra Foundation and its partner organizations in Vietnam and the Philippines can realize a sustainable labor support mechanism and become a model for other regions to promote more inclusive employment," he continued.

Research partners from Indonesia, namely Mitra Netra, hope that from the results of research, supporting various parties to provide jobs for visually impaired people can be realized better, private companies, BUMN and BUMD and government institutions will be more proactive in providing job opportunities for visually impaired people, as well as creating an inclusive work environment.

Through this study, Indonesia has also learned from the progress that has been achieved by the blind through the support of government policies and the private sector in the Philippines and Vietnam.

Mitra Netra's involvement in this research project is a form of our commitment to empowering and supporting the visually impaired so that they can live independently, intelligently, and meaningfully in an inclusive society," explained Aria Indrawati, Head of the Division. Public Relations & Division of Manpower of the Mitra Netra Foundation.

"We also hope that both the central and regional governments, as well as employers from the BUMN, BUMD, and private sectors can take advantage of the results of this study as a basis for formulating more effective policies and programs, encouraging inclusive practices in the workplace, and increasing public awareness about potential for visual impairments," he said.