Hong Kong, SAR

The ILO and the Government of Hong Kong, SAR, as well as several of its NGOs, have worked in close collaboration to share good practices throughout the region.  Hong Kong professionals have served as resource people for work in other countries, especially on Mainland China. For example, a representative of the Department of Labour’s Special Placement Service was a resource person for the training programme, Employer Development Techniques for the Job Placement of People with Disabilities that was organized in collaboration with CDPF in Shanghai in 2005. As far back as 2001, a representative of the Vocational Training Council provided a training programme in vocational assessment in Beijing.

The collaboration goes both ways. In 2006, the ILO’s Senior Specialist in Vocational Rehabilitation was the keynote speaker at two separate seminars in Hong Kong SAR. The first, on the 25 July 2006, called “Untapped Potential: Corporation and NGO Partnership Forum on Disability and Employment”, was attended by about 200 people, including many human resource professionals, employers and high-level government officials. The second event, on the following day, was the “Workshop on Employment Initiatives and Social Enterprises for People with Disabilities”, which was directed mainly to NGO staff. The first event was the official launch for the Chinese version of a casebook featuring the social enterprises that have been developed by Hong Kong NGOs, with seed money by the Department of Social Welfare. It also was designed to engage more employers in the process of training and employing disabled persons. The keynote address in the Untapped Potential workshop was directed to the employers in the audience and covered the reasons employer hire disabled persons, and culminated in the business case for hiring disabled persons. The keynote address for the second workshop highlighted types and methods of partnering with employers and other partners and included examples of partnerships from around the region that relate to employment and training.

Hong Kong partnerships and good practice examples are highlighted in many ILO publications and presentations. For example, the JW Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong and the Hong Chi Association presented its training partnership for people with intellectual disabilities at the ILO/ESCAP Multinational Corporation Roundtable on Disability and Employment in July, 2005 and   Hong SAR participated in the production of the ILO video AbilityAsia to encourage employers to hire people with disabilities. Several Hong Kong businesses were represented as was the New Life Psychiatric Centre, which provides vocational training, supported employment and employment services to people with psychiatric disabilities.

Although quite advanced in its practices, Hong Kong has also benefited from its collaboration with the ILO. The ILO has worked with Hong Kong to encourage greater employer participation its training and employment efforts and to further inclusion of disabled persons in its vocational training programmes.

Hong Kong participated in the ILO’s 14-country study, sent a delegation to the ILO/Japan Regional Technical Consultation on Vocational Training and Employment of People with Disabilities and several of its good practices are featured in Moving Forward. Hong Kong has also participated in several ILO regional meetings and activities related to disabled persons.

To learn more about employment and training in Hong Kong, SAR, consult the following:

• Casebook of Social Enterprises in the Rehabilitation Sector, Hong Kong, SAR (Chinese)
• Training and Employment of People with Disabilities: Hong Kong SAR, 2002. Part of the AbilityAsia Country Study Series, 2004 (pdf)
• New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association
  Trading the Workshop for the Worksite---Building Competency and Confidence Among People with Psychiatric Disabilities in Hong Kong SAR (pdf)
• Rehabilitation Alliance Hong Kong
  A Convenience for Everyone---People with Disabilities Open a 7-11 Store in Hong Kong SAR (pdf)
• Self-Help Integrated Placement Service
  Promoting Themselves---Preparing People to Find Jobs in Hong Kong SAR (pdf)
• Marketing Consultancy Office
  Opportunity in Numbers---A Progressive Government Initiative in Hong Kong SAR Creates an Alliance of NGOs to Adapt to a Changing Economy (pdf)
• Good Housekeeping with Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong SAR (pdf)
• AbilityAsia Video

For more information about disability related laws and policies and the country consult our National Laws and Information pages.

top of the page