ILO/Irish Aid Partnership Agreement 2004 – 2007

Promoting the Employability and Employment of People with Disabilities through Effective Legislation

Background

In recent years, there has been a strong, growing movement towards promoting the integration of job-seekers with disabilities into competitive employment, rather than arranging for them to work in special centres. This movement has received fresh impulse during the first phase of the ILO/Irish Aid Programme 2001 – 2003 through the declaration of several regional decades of persons with disabilities (2nd Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003-2012, the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 1999 – 2009 and Arab Decade of Disabled People, 2004 -2013), the adoption of the ILO Code of Practice on Managing Disability in the Workplace in 2001 and its widespread dissemination, and the preparation of a new UN Convention to Protect and Promote the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.

This trend is reflected in legislation and policies concerning the employment of persons with disabilities introduced by many countries and also in the increasing explicit mention of workers with disabilities in the general labour legislation. While the aim of many recent laws and policies is to promote the integration of disabled persons into the open labour market, evidence indicates that the impact of these laws and policies has been limited to date. To improve the effectiveness of existing laws and policies, more attention needs to be given to the introduction of effective implementation measures, as well the review of existing legislation, and to government consultation of social partners and organizations of disabled persons in the process of developing policy measures to give effect to laws.

A Partnership Programme Agreement between Irish Aid and the ILO was signed in July 2001. The Programme was designed to contribute to the overall ILO objective to create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent work and income. Within this broad context the first phase of the Partnership Programme focused on enhanced employment opportunities for people with disabilities through effective legislation, among other themes. Programme activities were implemented in selected countries of East Africa and in the Asia/Pacific Region. A Mid-Term Independent Evaluation of the Partnership Programme, which took place in January to March 2004, was positive overall, and recommended the extension of the Partnership Programme for a further 3-year period (2005-2007).

ILO/IRISH AID Programme phase I (2001-2003)

In the first phase of the project the following was achieved:

·     A knowledge base was developed on laws and policies in nine selected countries of the Asia/Pacific region and seven countries of East Africa. This included information on measures introduced to give effect to these laws and policies, as well as on available evidence on their impact in practice. In addition, the project contributed to the development of 14 country studies of training and employment of people with disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region;

·     Technical consultations were held in Africa (May 2002) and Asia (January 2003) with governments, employer, worker and disabled persons’ representatives, and parliamentarians on the steps required to improve the practical effectiveness of the laws and policies;

·     Technical support was provided to governments on request, in developing or revising disability-related legislation and/or policies or to the social partners in organising advocacy events;

·     The guidelines "Achieving Equal Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities through Legislation" were developed and published;

·     A compendium of methodologies used in collecting statistical data on persons with disabilities in the labour force was compiled; and

·     Two video productions - "Ability Asia" and "Ability Caribbean" - on employers' perspectives on the employment of persons with disabilities - were produced and disseminated.

Strategy for ILO/Irish Aid Programme Phase II (2004 – 2007)

In the second phase of the project, besides supporting national governments in the drafting or revision of laws, an important aim will be to strengthen the capacity of national governments and other key stakeholders to strengthen their focus on disability-related issues in training and employment legislation and to sustain this focus once the project has come to an end.

Participating countries in the second phase of the project will be China, Mongolia, Thailand and Vietnam in the Asia/Pacific region and Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia in the African region.

A proactive approach will be taken in this phase, through direct contact with key stakeholders. Meetings will be held to discuss regional and national findings. The establishment, by governments, of advisory groups to develop or revise national action plans on employment promotion for and the enhancement of employability of disabled persons through effective legislation and policy will be encouraged. A designated training institution will be contracted to provide training to key stakeholders on topics relevant to the development and implementation of effective employment-related legislation for persons with disabilities. The intention in this is to encourage the development of sustained awareness of and an informed debate on legislative, policy and programme issues relating to the employment of disabled persons at the national level. Partnerships will be developed with the national and local media, aiming at achieving commitment to a media campaign to promote positive images of disability, and overcome negative stereotypes.

Building on the experience of the first phase and international policy developments in the field of disability, the project activities in phase two are planned within four different categories as follows:

Global activities

·     Updating of the country profiles and regional overview of legislation and policies concerning the training and employment of persons with disabilities, and their implementation.

·     Development of a core curriculum for national training courses on legislation and policy concerning the training and employment of persons with disabilities, targeted at relevant stakeholders.

·     Development of guidelines on data collection on the employment of persons with disabilities at national level, building on collaboration with UN initiatives to improve the quality of such data.

·     Organization of knowledge exchanges nationally and internationally to contribute to awareness-raising at national level and to promoting change in legislation and its implementation measure.

·     Promotion, translation into national languages and dissemination of guidelines on Achieving Equal Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities through Legislation, developed during phase one, as well as relevant promotional material.

Technical advice

·     Support legislative and policy reform and development in countries of Asia and East Africa.

·     Technically support other national initiatives to promote the effectiveness in practice of vocational training and employment policy.

Enhancing capacity

·     Collaborate with designated training institutions in conducting a training course on laws and policies relevant to the training and employment of disabled persons, for nominated representatives of government, employer, worker, disabled persons’ and disability-related non-governmental organizations, with a view to facilitating the development of a national-level training capacity in this area.

·     Support the customization of the generic curriculum to the national context in each of the participating countries.

·     Assist the training institutions to establish the training course as an on-going part of the institution’s curriculum.

Media sensitization

·     Support the development of partnerships with media, to promote awareness of the working capacity of persons with disabilities and tackle negative stereotypes on disabled persons.

·     Develop promotional materials in a variety of media (print, video, photographs).

For more information:

Technical Consultation on Employment of People with Disabilities: A Human Rights Approach, a Tripartite ILO Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand: 18-20 January 2006

Achieving Equal Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities Through Legislation Guidelines
ILO - Geneva, 2004
English (pdf), Chinese (pdf), Vietnamese (pdf), Thai (pdf), Khmer (pdf)

The Employment of People With Disabilities
Australia Country Profile March 2003
(pdf)

The Employment of People With Disabilities
Cambodia Country Profile March 2003
(pdf)

The Employment of People With Disabilities
China Country Profile March 2003
(pdf)

The Employment of People With Disabilities
Fiji Country Profile March 2003
(pdf)

The Employment of People With Disabilities
India Country Profile March 2003
(pdf)

The Employment of People With Disabilities
Japan Country Profile March 2003
(pdf)

The Employment of People With Disabilities
Mongolia Country Profile March 2003
(pdf)

The Employment of People With Disabilities
Sri Lanka Country Profile March 2003
(pdf)

The Employment of People With Disabilities
Thailand Country Profile March 2003
(pdf)

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