after having laid the foundation for two years, the fiscal 2019-2020 witnessed an uptake in the activities of Friends For Inclusion.
The innovation track focussed on Mera Mitra and the Sign Language translator. Mera Mitra saw an uptake in the usage with Over thousand people using it. The initiative garnered a lot of media coverage appreciating the forward thinking and the novelty of the solution. In parallel, we continued to accelerate on the development of the sign language translator. We were successful in creating a prototype along with IIIT – Bangalore. this prototype was displayed in a high-profile event at the Bangalore Tech summit 2019 where we got an opportunity to showcase and engage with eminent personalities including Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, King of Mysore, ex-CEO of Infosys Ltd.
Coming to the Educate track, there were number of activities which were performed by us. Our founder was invited to give a TEDx talk, where we discussed the role of technology in enabling and creating barrier for people with disabilities. We co-organised the global accessibility awareness day celebration at Adobe and the national conference for the assistive technology for all at mobility India. We participated in number of speaking engagement and authored the article on our website, that establishes the business case for making products and services accessible for people with disabilities.
As a part of the Facilitate track, we focussed on making Census 2021 inclusive, where our leadership led A national consultation organized by NCPEDP, following which a recommendation report was submitted to Census Commission/ Registrar General of India – Ministry of Home Affairs, NITI Aayog and Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities – Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The second one was in collaboration with sight savers and NCPEDP, that talked about the state of integration of people with disabilities in India’s SDGs journey. The consultation culminated into a comprehensive report which was submitted to United Nations High Level Political Forum, NITI Aayog, DEPWD and disability sector at large.
We hope to continue our momentum and accelerate the fantastic year we had, however as we close the year, we are also cognizant of the outbreak of the Covid-19 situation. India has already announced a three-week lockdown at the end of March 2020. We anticipate that several activities and possible funding opportunities may get disrupted in the next year. Our governing body will continue to monitor the situation and take necessary action to respond to the situation. Having said that, we foresee that the development of the sign language translator and the work on census 2021 would be of strategic importance.