In May 2025, Better Work Sri Lanka launched the first two batches of ILO’s specialized Disability Equality Training (DET), marking a significant milestone in its ongoing efforts to promote inclusive employment practices within Sri Lanka’s apparel sector. This intervention is part of the broader “Inclusive Threads” initiative, which aims to create employment opportunities for persons with disabilities and an enabling environment within the apparel sector in Sri Lanka. DET is designed to help participants move beyond conventional views of disability.

It encourages a deeper understanding of the societal barriers that hinder inclusion, the lack of opportunities faced by persons with disabilities, which in turn provides a new perspective on disability that paves the way to realizing how changes could be made to include persons with disabilities within their own organizations.

Delivered over two and a half days by ILO certified trainer, Ms. Francesca Biasiato from Better Work, the sessions offered an immersive learning experience grounded in real-world challenges and solutions.

Participants included apparel sector employers, officials from the Department of Social Services, representatives from Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), employer and worker union members and ILO staff. The program aimed to strengthen their capacity to deliver the training content to their co-workers.

The program was cost-shared with the PAVE Project (Promoting the Advancement of Vulnerable Persons and Enterprises), which operates in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. Officers from the Department of Social Services in the North also took part, reflecting the initiative’s inclusive and national scope.

Better Work’s unique facilitation techniques played a central role in the success of the DET. These methods encouraged participants to share personal experiences and best practices, fostering a collaborative learning environment. The sessions also prompted participants to explore and challenge commonly used terminology related to disability, helping them recognize how language shapes societal attitudes. Practical discussions on workplace barriers and solutions further enriched the training, allowing participants to reflect on real-world challenges.

The training concluded with a half-day action planning session, where participants reflected on how they could apply their learning within their own work environments. Participants crafted a self-pledge, outlining specific actions they intended to take within three months of completing the training. These pledges were collected by the Better Work team and will be sent back to participants after three months as a reminder of their commitment and a prompt to continue advancing disability inclusion in their workplaces. This Disability Equality Training (DET) intervention under the Inclusive Threads initiative represents a meaningful step toward building a more inclusive and equitable apparel industry in Sri Lanka. By equipping stakeholders with the knowledge and tools to challenge biases and foster accessibility, Better Work Sri Lanka continues to lead the way in embedding inclusion into the core of workplace culture.