Instruments and Events Aimed at Promoting Employment and Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities

In addition to the international instruments and standards developed to equalize opportunities for persons with disabilities and facilitate their social integration, a number of international and regional standards/agreements were specifically articulated to enable persons with disability to access, retain and advance career opportunities; and to resolve the institutional and other forms of discrimination that prohibit their participation in the labour force, including, chiefly, the ILO Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention (No. 159) and Recommendation No. 168 that was adopted by the ILO General Conference in 1983. The Convention urges countries to develop, implement and evaluate a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities in line with their national specificities. Such policy should aim at ensuring that appropriate vocational rehabilitation measures are made available to all categories of disabled persons, and at promoting employment opportunities for disabled persons in the open labour market. Moreover, it should be based on the principle of equal opportunity and managed in consultation with representative bodies of employers, workers and the disability community. The Convention also calls to provide vocational guidance, vocational training, placement and employment, and to take measures in order to promote the development of rehabilitation and vocational services in rural and remote areas.[1]

Within that context, Recommendation No. 168 stresses that persons with disabilities should, whenever possible, be able to obtain employment in the open labour market, taking into account their own choice and their individual suitability for such employment. Where open employment is not suitable, the Convention recommends that sheltered or supported employment should be facilitated. Moreover, Recommendation No. 168 highlights several measures aimed at promoting employment opportunities for disabled persons and that conform to the employment and salary standards applicable to workers (see box 1).

Box 1. Measures related to Recommendation No. 168 of the ILO Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention (No. 159)

Two decades later, the ILO Code of Practice was developed to guide employers in managing disability issues in the workplace. The Code describes the mutual responsibilities of employers and workers’ representatives, and emphasizes the role of the State in creating an enabling policy environment that is conducive for the employment of persons with disabilities.[2]

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) adds the strength of the human rights approach in making available work opportunities to disadvantaged workers, and complements previous instruments. More specifically, Article 27 on “work and employment” of the Convention requests States Parties to promote the realization of the right to work and take appropriate steps in order to promote decent employment, prohibit discrimination and ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided in the workplace (see box 2). 

Box 2. Full Text of Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

At the regional level, the importance of rehabilitating persons with disabilities and integrating them in the labour force was supported in 1993 when the League of Arab States (LAS) adopted resolution 17/1993 on the Arab Agreement on the Rehabilitation and Employment of the Disabled. The Agreement urges governments in the Arab region to develop special training and rehabilitation policies targeting persons with disabilities in collaboration with employers and workers, with a view to ensuring the availability, accessibility and adaptability of job opportunities.[3]

Inspired by the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons (1983-1992) and other regional initiatives, LAS, ESCWA and the Arab Organization of Disabled People (AODP) organized the Conference on Disability Conditions in the Arab World: Towards an Arab Decade on Disability (Beirut, 2-5 October 2002). The recommendations of the Conference culminated in proclaiming the period 2004-2013 as the Arab Decade of Disabled Persons at the Arab Summit in Tunis in 2004 and aimed at the following:

1. Enhancing the self-image of persons with disabilities and work on changing social attitudes towards them;
2. Promoting the issues of people with disabilities as priorities on government agendas, and providing the necessary funds for the improvement of the quality of their life;
3. Supporting and facilitating the establishment of organizations for persons with disabilities and their families, and ensure their representation at on bodies and councils dealing with disability to guarantee their effective participation in planning national policies and programmes;
4. Establishing and improving the performance of bodies, committees and councils responsible for policy, planning and delivery of programmes and services;
5. Creating reliable statistical databases on disability issues;
6. Improving existing governmental and civil society programmes and developing new ones to guarantee that they address the entire spectrum of disability issues;
7.  Defining and unifying the terms relating to disability and people with disability;
8.  Making use of new technologies in the diagnosis, training and rehabilitation of people with disabilities;
9. Providing adequate financial support for people with disabilities and their families to ensure they are able to make use of the latest in modern (assistive) technology;
10. Providing adequate funding for conducting research and studies on disability issues, paying special attention to developmental disabilities;
11. Enhancing and developing the skills and training of personnel working with people with disabilities and their families in the areas of educational, social, psychological, professional and medical rehabilitation, and providing the necessary scientific and technical knowledge.
12. Developing plans for the full integration of people with disabilities in public schools, the labour market, housing, and cultural, social, sports and entertainment venues and facilities and all public spaces;
13. Supporting and encouraging qualified persons with disabilities to stand for and run for public and political office at all levels of government;
14. Establishing institutions to house persons with disabilities and ensuring that only those with severe disabilities and living under extenuating circumstances are housed in them and only until they are ready to be integrated into society;
15. Encouraging civil society organization to become involved in rehabilitation and setting strategies, plans and programmes needed to guarantee appropriate and accessible health and rehabilitation services for people with disabilities wherever they may be, particularly in rural and remote communities.

The Plan of Action of the Decade focused on 11 disability-related areas, namely: education; health; legislation; rehabilitation and employment; disabled women; disabled children; accessibility and transport; globalization; poverty and disability; information and awareness; and recreation and sports. In the area of employment, the Plan of Action outlines key measures to support the economic integration of persons with disabilities including, among others, as follows:[4]

1. Developing the skills of vocational trainers; 
2. Developing rehabilitation and training centres in line with modern technologies and labour market needs; 
3. Supporting persons with disabilities in starting small businesses and projects;
4. Improving legislation to protect disabled workers; 
5. Building partnerships between governments, private sector and disability organizations.