Question: What is an intellectual disability?

Answer: Intellectual disability is characterised by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behaviour as expressed in conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills. People with intellectual disabilities experience difficulties in one or more of the following areas: learning, communication, self care, home living, social skills, community use, self direction, health and safety, leisure, and work. An intellectual disability may become apparent early in life or, in the case of people with a mild intellectual disability, may not be diagnosed until school age or later. This disability originates before adulthood (Note 1).

Question: What is the situation for people with intellectual disabilities in Africa?

Answer: The quality and scope of population statistics on intellectual disability is problematic throughout the world; Africa is no exception. Despite this, estimates show that there are some 10 to 15 million people – from a population of over 800 million – who have an intellectual disability. Because of stigma and discrimination, the majority of those affected live in poverty and isolation. Even in developed countries, people with an intellectual disability and their families are much more likely to be poor than the general population (Note 2).

Question: What are some the risks faced by people with intellectual disabilities?

Answer: More than for any other group, including people with other forms of disability, for people with intellectual disabilities, unemployment rates and exclusion from education, employment, health care and other services, and from belonging in their communities are high (Note 3).

Question: How do intellectual disabilities impact on other family members?

Answer: Families often provide the main support for persons with intellectual disabilities, whether they are adults, children, or adolescents. The care of family members with intellectual disabilities by productive adults means that one or more parents are not able to access paid work or must work fewer hours or give up on job advancement. This exacerbates the family’s economic and social situation, contributing to a vicious cycle of poverty and exclusion.

Question: Are there non-private benefits and services for people with intellectual disabilities?

Answer: In many countries around the world, the public sector has the main responsibility for financing services for people with intellectual disabilities. In Africa, less than 30 per cent of countries (by WHO African region) provide benefits and services, such as a disability pension, subsidies for food, medicine and transport, health security or social security, to adults or families with a child who has an intellectual disability. More than 50 per cent offer no benefits at all (Note 4). Many NGOs and international organizations are involved in delivering services to people with intellectual disabilities.

Question: What sort of support is available in Africa for people with intellectual disabilities?

Answer: Programmes aimed at the development of work skills, sheltered employment and supported employment are available in most African countries, though to a lesser degree than in countries with higher levels of income. The types of available services increase along with countries’ levels of income. For example, services aimed at general work skills, training and development in upper-middle-income countries are more than twice those available in low-income countries (Note 5).

Question: What is the main focus of the conference?

Answer: The rights of people with disabilities, including women and men with intellectual disabilities, have been given new impetus with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2008. The Convention requires States to provide training and employment opportunities for disabled jobseekers alongside non-disabled workers. Many African countries have declared their commitment to the goal of inclusion of people with disabilities by ratifying or signing the Convention. The three day sub-regional conference provides an opportunity to address inclusive strategies for training and employment of people with intellectual disabilities through action by government, employers, trade unions and civil society. More concretely, the conference aims to: examine current experiences in Africa and internationally in vocational training and employment for persons with intellectual disabilities and in preparing them for work; explore policy frameworks conducive to promoting training and employment opportunities for this group; identify steps and measures that governments, social partners and civil society can adopt to promote the economic and social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities; and foster cooperation among agencies participating in the conference to establish lasting collaborative networks.

Question: What is the ILO-Irish Aid partnership doing to promoting decent work for people with intellectual disabilities?

Answer: In selected countries of East and Southern Africa, the Partnership Programme works to promote decent work for women and men with all types of disabilities through National Tripartite-Plus Programme Advisory Groups that advocate a disability perspective in legislation and policy, and that promote equal opportunities for persons with disabilities in vocational training and general employment services. Tripartite- Plus consultation allows for the participation of NGOs of and for persons with disabilities, which are often well placed to address the needs and concerns of disabled persons.

Question: What is the ILO-Irish Aid’s message regarding people with intellectual disabilities?

Answer: People with intellectual disabilities want an opportunity to be included in a range of life experiences in the same way as the non-disabled or as people with other types of disability. For the vast majority of people with intellectual disabilities, the opportunity to engage in work in the general community has been denied to them. Yet experience shows that many can successfully perform a wide range of jobs and can be dependable workers, given the appropriate training and support. Work not only helps to provide them and their families with the means to meet their basic necessities, but also allows them dignity and self-respect.

Note 1 - ILO Conference to promote training and employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, 9-11 March, Lusaka, Zambia.

Note 2 - Inclusion International, Hear our voices: a global report. People with an intellectual disability and their families speak out on poverty and exclusion, 2006, p. 2.

Note 3 - Ibid, p. 1.

Note 4 - WHO, Atlas - Global Resources for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, 2007, http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/atlas_id_2007.pdf, accessed on 01/03/10, p. 35. This global report includes information from147 countries, representing 95 per cent of the world population.

Note 5 - Ibid, p. 47.