Online job-platform for persons with disabilities in a sub-Saharan country

The National Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities in Kenya, launched the NVPWD Career Portal in 2020 with support from mobile operator Safaricom. This offers personalized job recommendations and learning opportunities, and by mid-2022 had been used by more than 5,100 job seekers and 327 employers.

Safaricom is a Kenyan mobile network operator headquartered in Nairobi. As Convener of the Forum for the Global Disability Summit – Kenya Chapter, initiated in 2019, Safaricom supported the National Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities to start an online job platform in 2020. In addition to matching candidates and employers, the tool offers trainings in areas such as digital literacy and leadership skills to improve the chances of finding suitable employment. Between 2020 and mid-2022, 5,105 candidates and 327 employers used the portal.

Problems Targeted

Although Kenya has a minimum quota system for the employment of persons with disabilities, there are few employment services.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

The NCPWD Career Portal offers personalized job recommendations, career guidance, and learning opportunities, such as courses to develop digital and soft skills. Persons with disabilities can register on the portal using their NCPWD-provided disability card, which matches their National Identity card to gain access. Employers who wish to sign up send an email to the career platform provider to request their registration. The concept was developed at the Forum for Global Disability Summit – Kenya Chapter in 2019 in partnership with i2i (Innovation to Inclusion). Safaricom engaged in the design of the platform, the recruiting assessment processes, and the development of online courses. It also played a key role in motivating businesses to register on the job portal. The portal is meant to help public and private sector employers to fill the 5 per cent of jobs they are legally required to reserve for persons with disabilities. Between 2020 and mid of 2022 a total of 141 employment seekers with disabilities have found employment through the portal.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

The job application portal is implemented through a cooperation between the National Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities and the i2i project, funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and delivered through a consortium of partners, led by Leonard Cheshire. Between 2020 and 2022 a total of $330,000 has been invested. An annual budget of $80,000 is allocated for IT licences, IT service providers and developers, and operational and administrative costs. The development of offline communication channels (updates via SMS) and the simplification of the job portal access are next steps in the efforts to increase the outreach of the platform.

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