Persons with disabilities

One in every 10 people in the world — 650 million people worldwide—has a disability.

Although many people with disabilities are successfully employed and fully integrated into society, as a group they suffer a disproportionate level of poverty and unemployment. Worldwide, their exclusion from the workplace deprives societies of an estimated US$ 1.37- 1.94 trillion in lost GDP annually. Yet women and men with disabilities can and want to be productive members of their societies.

Decent work is the ILO's primary goal for everyone, including persons with disabilities. The ILO is working to promote skills development and employment opportunities for people with disabilities based on the principles of equal opportunity, equal treatment, mainstreaming into vocational rehabilitation and employment services programmes and community involvement. The principle of non-discrimination is increasingly emphasized as disability issues have come to be seen as human rights issues. The ILO works to achieve this goal through promoting labour standards, advocacy, knowledge-building on the training and employment of people with disabilities and technical cooperation services and partnerships, both within the ILO and externally.

The Governments of many countries in the sub-region also promote social inclusion of persons with disabilities in accordance with the international labour standards /*. Their integration into the labour market takes the form of employment with the use of the quota/levy system, incentives for employers, or sheltered employment. To enhance this process elaboration of the policy advisory report on increased decent work opportunities of people with disabilities was initiated by the ILO. The aim of the report is to provide policy advice to the decision makers from governments, as well as employers’ and workers’ organizations, on desired amendments to legislation protecting persons with disabilities against discrimination and regulating and promoting vocational education and training, vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. It also endeavours to strengthen the capacity of institutions responsible for providing vocational education and training, vocational rehabilitation, job mediation and placement services to persons with disabilities. Besides it advises on improving the range, design and efficiency of vocational rehabilitation and employment promotion programmes in favour of persons with disabilities.

* Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan ratified ILO Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention No. 159. Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

See also

Disability and work
ILO - Irish Aid Partnership Programme

Publications

Advisory report on vocational rehabilitation and employment of people with disabilities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Achieving equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities through legislation (Guidelines)
Achieving Equal Employment Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities through Legislation (Training Guide)
Brief profile on Disability
Managing disability in the workplace: ILO code of practice
The price of exclusion : the economic consequences of excluding people with disabilities from the world of work
The right to decent work of persons with disabilities

Video:

Breaking barriers: Letting people with disabilities into the labour market (video)