Employment of people with disabilities

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Employment of people with disabilities ILO
initiatives and the wider international
perspective

• Rudi Delarue, Director,
• ILO Office for the European Union and the Benelux
  countries
• Joint AOPD EDFconference at EESC
• Brussels, Belgium 14.12.2012

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Overview

• What is the International Labour Organization?
• What does ILO do to promote inclusion and job
  opportunities for people with disabilities?
• Longstanding ILO committment (first instrument
  already in 1925, Recommendation N 22)
• What opportunities are there for people with
  disabilities around the world?
• At least 785 million persons with disabilities
  are at working age
• Estimated loss of exclusion of persons with
  disabilities between 3 and 7 GDP in some
  countries (ILO studies)
• Wider international context and integration of
  human rights in EU external policy and action

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International Labour Organization

• Specialized Agency of the United Nations
• Set up in 1919, over 90 years ago
• 185 Member States
• Tripartite in Structure
• Involves employer and worker representatives as
  well as governments
• Decent Work Agenda
• Employment, including skills and vocational
  training
• Social protection
• Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
• Social dialogue

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How ILO promotes decent work and inclusion for
people with disabilities

• ILO Standards on Disability
• Developing Knowledge on Good Practice
• Research, Evaluation
• Publications
• Advocacy
• Policy Advice
• Meetings and seminars
• Training programmes
• Long standing cooperation with social partners
  and wider civil society
• ILO Global Business and Disability Network 40
  MNEs and 18 national employers organisations and
  business associations
• Tackling disability included in almost 50 of
  Decent Work Country programmes
• Technical Cooperation Services

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What are ILO Standards?

• Conventions
• - Similar to international treaties
• - They set down international Labour standards
• - Are legally binding on States which ratify
  them
• Recommendations
• Non -binding guidelines on labour standards,
  which
• Guide national policy and practice
• They may accompany a convention, or stand alone
• Codes of Practice
• - These are agreed, non-binding, rules and
  procedures, which are usually written in legal
  language, to support the implementation of law

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ILO Standards on Disability

• Convention 159 on Vocational Rehabilitation and
  Employment (Disabled Persons), 1983
• ILO up to date convention
• Ratification promoted
• More and more ratified
• 82 ratifications in 2012( from 59 in 1998) thanks
  to ILO efforts supported by limited resources
  only!!!
• most EU member states have ratified
• more ratifications in other parts of the world
• in MENA e.g. Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
  Tunisia, Yemen
• Strongly influenced CRPD
• Renewed support by ILO Governing Body, November
  2012
• http//www.ilo.org/gb/GBSessions/GB316/pol/WCMS_1
  91384/lang--en/index.htm
• Recommendation 168, 1983
• Recommendation 99, 1955
• Code of Practice Managing Disability in the
  Workplace, 2001

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What ILO Convention No. 159 requires

• States should develop policy based on
• Equality of opportunity for disabled persons
• Equality of treatment of women and men with
  disabilities
• Promoting access to general programmes and
  services, alongside non-disabled persons, where
  possible (Mainstreaming )
• Introduce special positive measures to compensate
  for disadvantages
• Underlying convictions
• Obstacles faced by disabled persons arise largely
  from societal barriers, rather than solely from
  impairments
• People with disabilities represent great
  potential, yet to be fully unlocked

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Advocating Equal Opportunities

• Example - Conference in Lusaka, Zambia, March
  2010
• Opening Pathways to Training and Employment for
  People with Intellectual Disabilities in the
  African Region
• Attended by government, employer, trade union and
  civil society
• Looked at what is working, to enable people with
  intellectual disabilities to get good jobs.
• Addressed by people with intellectual
  disabilities from 5 countries
• Participants adopted Lusaka Declaration

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Technical Cooperation Projects

• Example
• Promoting rights and opportunities for people
  with Disabilities through legislation 2012 2013
  
• Will provide technical advice and training for
  decision-makers and service providers in China
• Aim People with disabilities benefit from decent
  work opportunities

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Employment opportunities for people with
disabilities around the world

• High income countries
• Sheltered workshops
• Still widespread, but no longer popular with
  policy-makers
• Supported employment
• Involves on-job-training in ordinary workplaces
• Job-coach provides support as long as needed
• Growing emphasis on this option in many countries
  
• Social firms
• Businesses trading for social or environmental
  purpose
• Over 25 percent of employees disadvantaged
  people
• Reasonable accommodations made for employees,
  relevant to their needs.
• Community economic development initiatives

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Employment opportunities for people with
intellectual disabilities around the world (2)

• Low income countries
• Village-based industries
• Including farm work
• Self-employment, small business enterprises
• May be in family-run businesses
• Could involve Community Economic Development
  initiatives
• Supported Employment
• Has been tried in some countries in the form of
  pilot projects
• Limited application, as most new jobs in the
  informal economy

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What needs to be done next, by whom?

• Governments
• Gather information on current employment
  situation of people with disabilities, as well as
  barriers to employment and success factors
• Develop a national policy on integrated
  employment for people with disabilities
• Develop a national implementation strategy
• Track progress through effective data collection
• Widely disseminate positive results of pilot
  projects

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What needs to be done next, by whom?(2)

• Service providers
• Programmes should aim at inclusion in the
  mainstream
• provide on-going formal and in-formal supports
• Ensure well-planned transition from school to
  work
• Effective data systems needed, to inform
  programme monitoring and development
• Career guidance and planning important to ensure
  progression beyond entry-level jobs
• Adequate training required for Supported
  Employment job coaches
• Success stories should be gathered and publicized
  
• Role models for job-seekers with intellectual
  disabilities
• Way of convincing potential employers that
  people with intellectual disabilities can be
  loyal, productive workers.

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Promoting decent work opportunities for people
with disabilities in their communities

• Fundamental Changes required - including in
• Roles of
• special disability agencies, service providers
• mainstream agencies, service providers
• disability advocates
• Involvement of social partners
• Employers
• Trade unions
• Civil society
• Certain types of services and programmes
• Sheltered Employment
• Vocational training

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Wider international context and integration in
EU external policy and actions

• ILO part of Inter-Agency Support Group for the
  CRPD
• More attention for human rights in external
  policy and actions, including in EU development
  cooperation ?
• New function of special EU representative for
  human rights in EU external action highligthed
  importance of socio-econmic rights
• ILO contributed to EC consultation on EC
  guidance note on disability in development
  cooperation
• but no practical EC support yet for ILO related
  actions on disability (but e.g. very significant
  support by Ireland)
• More attention to human rights in renewed EU
  neighbourhood policy
• EU part of CRPD and part/involved in other human
  rights discussions (e.g. also within ILO)

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Wider international context and integration in
EU external policy and actions

• Post 2015 development framework and sustainable
  developments goals offers opportunities
• to move towards an integrated and more
  comprehensive approach
• less top down approach role for workers,
  employers and other parts of civil society
• for better integrating economic, social,
  employment and environmental goals with a rights
  based approach
• But administration and management of EU
  assistance based on so-called sectors or
  themes(2, max 3 by country with exception of
  ENP) how can this support integrated social and
  economic development?
• Why not supporting integrated national/regional
  development strategies

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Read more about ILO including its work for
Persons with Disabilitieswww.ilo.org/disability
www.ilo.org/inclusionwww.ilo.org/brussels