High-level Meeting on Disability and Development
Exclusion carries high costs for individuals and economies alike
Exclusion of people with disabilities from the world of work wastes significant potential at the individual, community and societal levels.
23 September 2013
Ms. Barbara Murray
Senior Disability Specialist
International Labour Organization
High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on Disability and Development23 September 2013
It is now recognized that people with disabilities make up at least 15 per cent of global population, are less likely than others to be employed and are at higher risk of poverty. Their exclusion from the world of work and their location at the margins of society in many countries has economic costs which the ILO has estimated at between 3 and 7 per cent of GDP. This represents a significant waste of potential at individual, community and societal levels.
The ILO is committed to the promotion of decent and productive work for all women and men, including those with disabilities, through its four strategic objectives – jobs and livelihoods, rights at work, social protection and social dialogue. Since the adoption of the Millennium Declaration in 2000, the international community has increasingly recognized the Decent Work Agenda as central to sustainable development, the eradication of poverty and the response to the global jobs crisis – including through the adoption of a sub-target on achieving decent and productive work for all under MDG 1 on Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.
ILO’s international technical cooperation programme is one of the main means used to implement this Agenda, using Decent Work Country Programmes developed in consultation with national tripartite constituents and civil society. Disability-related issues are prioritized in around 75% of these Programmes. In addition to technical cooperation, ILO collaborates with other UN agencies at country level to promote development, including in UN Country Team projects supported by the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The contribution of the private sector to sustainable development, including through public-private partnerships is now recognized. The ILO Global Business and Disability Network is a public-private partnership that assists companies to include people with disabilities in the workforce. Comprising representatives of multinational enterprises, employers' organizations and business networks, as well as selected non-governmental and disabled peoples' organizations, the Network is having an impact in promoting strategic business awareness of the positive relationship between the inclusion of people with disabilities and business success.
Through meetings in different parts of the world – most recently in Shanghai – the Network is an example of how international and regional cooperation and partnerships can promote decent work opportunities for people with disabilities and their active participation in sustainable development.
To tackle disability-based discrimination and support people with disabilities to rise out of poverty and to contribute actively to their societies, ILO encourages States to prioritize the inclusion of all women and men with disabilities in sustainable development, with a focus on enabling them to access training in employable skills, decent livelihoods and adequate social protection schemes. Measures should be designed in consultation with social partners and representatives of civil society, including persons with disabilities, to reflect the commitments States have entered into when ratifying pertinent international labour standards and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Senior Disability Specialist
International Labour Organization
High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on Disability and Development23 September 2013
It is now recognized that people with disabilities make up at least 15 per cent of global population, are less likely than others to be employed and are at higher risk of poverty. Their exclusion from the world of work and their location at the margins of society in many countries has economic costs which the ILO has estimated at between 3 and 7 per cent of GDP. This represents a significant waste of potential at individual, community and societal levels.
The ILO is committed to the promotion of decent and productive work for all women and men, including those with disabilities, through its four strategic objectives – jobs and livelihoods, rights at work, social protection and social dialogue. Since the adoption of the Millennium Declaration in 2000, the international community has increasingly recognized the Decent Work Agenda as central to sustainable development, the eradication of poverty and the response to the global jobs crisis – including through the adoption of a sub-target on achieving decent and productive work for all under MDG 1 on Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.
ILO’s international technical cooperation programme is one of the main means used to implement this Agenda, using Decent Work Country Programmes developed in consultation with national tripartite constituents and civil society. Disability-related issues are prioritized in around 75% of these Programmes. In addition to technical cooperation, ILO collaborates with other UN agencies at country level to promote development, including in UN Country Team projects supported by the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The contribution of the private sector to sustainable development, including through public-private partnerships is now recognized. The ILO Global Business and Disability Network is a public-private partnership that assists companies to include people with disabilities in the workforce. Comprising representatives of multinational enterprises, employers' organizations and business networks, as well as selected non-governmental and disabled peoples' organizations, the Network is having an impact in promoting strategic business awareness of the positive relationship between the inclusion of people with disabilities and business success.
Through meetings in different parts of the world – most recently in Shanghai – the Network is an example of how international and regional cooperation and partnerships can promote decent work opportunities for people with disabilities and their active participation in sustainable development.
To tackle disability-based discrimination and support people with disabilities to rise out of poverty and to contribute actively to their societies, ILO encourages States to prioritize the inclusion of all women and men with disabilities in sustainable development, with a focus on enabling them to access training in employable skills, decent livelihoods and adequate social protection schemes. Measures should be designed in consultation with social partners and representatives of civil society, including persons with disabilities, to reflect the commitments States have entered into when ratifying pertinent international labour standards and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.