In 2019, the Royal Thimphu College, University of Minnesota, and the University of Birmingham initiated the project “Understanding, Developing, and Supporting Meaningful Work for Youth with Disabilities: Networks, Communities, and Transitions,” funded through a Global Challenges Research Grant by UK Official Development Assistance (ESRC ES/S004319/1). The project seeks to survey and share the current reality for inclusive employment and social participation for young adults with disabilities in Bhutan; provide advocacy, coordination, and interventions to support increased awareness and activity in this area; and also work towards sustained support and awareness for inclusive employment and social participation for young adults with disabilities around the world – particularly in countries with limited resources and that are significantly rural in nature.

Activities within this project include a comprehensive survey of young adults with disabilities and employers in Bhutan; ethnographic resource mapping using GIS technology; a political economy assessment; implementing coordinator positions to facilitate inclusive employment, entrepreneurship, and school-to-work transition; training and advocacy in collaboration with Bhutanese NGOs and in-country organizations; and offering microgrants targeted towards building employment and entrepreneurship capacity for a selected group of young adults with disabilities. The project itself aspires to provide a case study on Bhutan in order to serve a global understanding of how to support inclusive employment for young adults with disabilities, particularly in low and middle income countries.

The main project website can be found HERE.

The project website at the Institue on Community Intergration, University of Minnesota, can be found HERE.

Project policy briefs and research reports can be found HERE.

Project feature on disability map stories in Bhutan can be found HERE.