Concluding remarks and policy recommendations

In light of the current commitment and efforts of the government of Egypt to integrate persons with disabilities into the labour market and into society generally, together with its decision to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and enact its own domestic disability law, the question arises to what extent are people with disabilities being included in the labour market. This paper aims to assess the employment of people with disabilities in the Egyptian labour market using the ELMPS 2018. This study is the first to use the ELMPS 2018 to quantitatively assess the employment of people with disabilities in Egypt. Such assessment can identify their opportunities and challenges, bridging the current empirical gap and paving the way for more effective policies.

Results indicate that being a person with disabilities significantly reduces the odds of entering the labour market by approximately 13 per cent. Among males, disability status tends to reduce the likelihood of participation by about 43 per cent. However, being a female with disabilities significantly increases the odds of participation by approximately 20 per cent, compared with females without disabilities. Among males who are non-heads of households, disability significantly decreases the probability of participation by 27 per cent. Focusing on disability types, the study found that having a mobility impairment is associated with a decrease in the likelihood of participation in the labour market by approximately 28 per cent. Furthermore, having cognitive impairments, or limitations in self-care or communication, tends to decrease the odds of entering the labour market by approximately 13 per cent. Once persons with disabilities decide to participate in the labour force and attempts to find work, they are also less likely to be employed. So, they remain unemployed. In addition, individuals with mobility impairments are less likely to be employed. However, disability has no significant impact on the likelihood of employees with disabilities to work in the public sector.

Given these findings, a sizeable portion of the Egyptian workforce is underutilized. Although the related policy initiatives and reforms undertaken appear to be useful in fostering inclusion of people with disabilities, it seems too early to conclude that such policies and reforms are having their intended impact. Indeed, more work needs to be done to fully promote people with all types of disabilities in the Egyptian labour market.

In this regard, several policy recommendations, to enhance employment opportunities for persons with disabilities, are summarized below. These recommendations may be valuable to policymakers as they work towards promoting an inclusive society:

First and foremost, policymakers should pursue a holistic approach to promote the employment of persons with disabilities, unlock their potential and improve their access to decent work. The government should work on enforcing and monitoring the recently enacted Egyptian domestic laws to ensure that public policies are harmonized, and aligned with international conventions and policies.
It is critical to raise public awareness on disability, as recognized in Article 8 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Such awareness campaigns challenge negative stereotypes and seek to change societal attitudes about disability within society. These changes can be accomplished by improving the current curricula and educational textbooks of undergraduate students to include relevant education on disability and human rights principles. Furthermore, governmental bodies, NGOs, disabled persons’ organizations and other stakeholders should launch disability-based campaigns to raise awareness and programmes targeting social attitudes. Media campaigns have a significant role in this regard as well.
There is a need for promoting and encouraging entrepreneurship, micro-enterprises and self-employment among people with disabilities. Laws and regulations should facilitate the ability of people with disabilities to obtain loans with simple conditions, advisory services and start-up monitoring. These suggestions can be implemented through a special programme improving access of people with disabilities to microfinance, as has been done in other countries. Such a programme should target raising awareness among people with disabilities about their potential for obtaining a loan and launching a company, combating stereotypes about their financial and entrepreneurial abilities and providing accessible information, training and technical assistance.
International cooperation and technology transfer are needed to share cost-effective policies and practices, exchange information and experiences, and obtain technical assistance and training for people with disabilities. Such efforts may be accomplished through fostering partnerships with key international and regional stakeholders, including United Nations agencies, international NGOs, donors and others.
Continuing to promote and improve the collection of high-quality data on disability is vitally important. Such data collection can be accomplished by applying the WG extended set of questions, which expands the WG short set of questions by incorporating more functional domains, and asking more questions within each domain. More evidence-based research is also needed to bridge the present knowledge gap on disability, its influence on social and economic development, the challenges faced by persons with disabilities and their needs. Moreover, further studies regarding the effectiveness of the policies and programmes undertaken are required to assist policymakers in deciding whether to scale up, revise or abandon the existing policies, and develop new ones within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for persons with disabilities.

These recommendations and reforms are expected to enhance the employment of persons with disabilities, paving the way towards greater inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in Egyptian society. Yet, given the substantial financial budgets needed, appropriate public and political support are required to ensure that these reforms are implemented effectively, and successfully.