Inclusive Threads: Overcoming Barriers to Employment for Persons with Disabilities in Sri Lanka’s Garment Industry

Persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka are widely classified as economically inactive, facing systemic barriers that limit their access to education, vocational training, and meaningful employment. Despite existing legal frameworks to protect and assist them, significant gaps persist between the law and its implementation. The garment sector is vital to Sri Lanka’s development, employing over 350,000 workers and accounting for more than 44% of exports. Advancing disability inclusion in this sector can strengthen both economic performance and Sri Lanka's standing in the global apparel industry.

This Capstone project was guided by a rights-based model and the principle that disability arises not from bodily impairment but from the interaction between impairment and structural barriers. The team first mapped key barriers to employing persons with disabilities in the garment sector across the supply side (workers), demand side (employers), and intermediaries (government), identifying five interrelated categories: training, training-to-employment, workplace inclusion, socio-cultural barriers, and institutional and policy barriers. The team then evaluated Better Work's ongoing contributions, including strengthening vocational training, building employer capacity, and convening tripartite dialogue across government, industry, and worker representatives.

Finally, the team developed recommendations to expand meaningful employment opportunities both within and beyond the garment industry. Central among these findings was moving from awareness-raising to accountability by deepening and broadening interventions across the full employment cycle and by embedding disability inclusion into institutional and policy structures. Together, these measures aimed to move disability inclusion from isolated initiatives toward a coordinated, sustainable, and systemic approach to inclusive employment in Sri Lanka.