Business Wire India

Drive Value Through Disability Inclusion By Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - India Business, Disability Network (IBDN) Brookfield Properties in association with EnAble India

Brookfield Properties today announced its commitment to increasing disability inclusion by making all its office parks universally accessible. It has joined The Valuable 500, a global campaign which strives to ensure businesses recognize the importance of the world’s one billion people living with disabilities.

The campaign, launched at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Summit in Davos in January this year, aims to get global business leaders to commit to accountable action on disability inclusion, by taking a simple first step and adding the topic of disability to their board agendas.

This social movement under the campaign #valuable, aims to get commitment from 500 private sector organizations to support disability inclusion and equality. More than 150 companies are signed up to the Valuable 500 globally from 20 countries with a further 150 companies in the process of joining.

Mr. Alok Aggarwal, Managing Director &CEO -India Office Business, Brookfield Properties said: “We have successfully launched key disability inclusion initiatives and infrastructure upgrades across our campuses. We want to do more and raise the bar, for impactful change. We are privileged to share the news that we are bringing disability inclusion onto our agenda as we join The Valuable 500.”

The announcement comes few weeks before Brookfield Properties is set to host a disability focused event in association with CII IBDN and EnAble India (Valuable 500, India Partner) to sensitize and create awareness on the issue and drive Disability inclusion as Board Room agenda of organizations.

The event, “India Inc. | Valuable 500 – Drive Value through Disability Inclusion” will bring together business leaders and influencers to help commit to more inclusive workplaces. Nearly 50 CEOs and 100 professionals at various leadership positions will take the pledge towards sensitizing this important drive.

Caroline Casey founder of The Valuable 500 will be leading the discussion along with other industry champions like former SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, Gopal Singaraju (COO, RBS India) and many more.

“Organisations like Brookfield Properties and others like Accenture, Mahindra, Unilever, Microsoft, Barclays, Fujitsu, Cinepolis, have the power to make a real difference in their respective sector,” Caroline Casey, founder of The Valuable 500, commented.

“There’s momentum building in India, and it is fantastic to see that business leaders here are equally committed as global leaders, to speak for those who have been routinely ignored in business and society. Undoubtedly this is a sign that the world is waking up to the current inequality crisis. We applaud them for taking a definitive stand on inclusion and giving a voice to disabled people through their boardrooms. We also hope such events will encourage other business leaders and brands to follow suit in committing to The Valuable 500.”

To date, businesses employing well over two million employees globally have signed up to put disability inclusion on their board agendas. Some prominent names which have this pledged to make this a board room agenda in India include professional services firms Allegis, Mahindra, ANZ, Dr. Reddy’s, DTSS, Laguna Clothing, Lalit Hospitality, Mphasis, Refinitive, Sansera, Vindhya & Lemon Tree Hotels.

Brookfield Properties has demonstrated its commitment to creating a supportive and comfortable environment and infrastructure for people with disabilities through a wide range of initiatives.

Disabilities inclusion initiatives include:

• Enhancing the physical accessibility in its campuses across India
• Ensuring universal accessibility guidelines are followed
• Partnering with organisations globally.
• Running and driving awareness programs and events.