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Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Ethiopia (RATIFICATION: 1991)

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Articles 2, 3, 4, 7 and 9 of the Convention. National policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. Access to the open labour market for persons with disabilities. Suitably qualified staff. Cooperation between the public employment service and private employment agencies. The Government indicates that it has made efforts for a better inclusion of persons with disabilities, through the adoption of legal instruments which include national policies and reforms. The Committee notes, with interest, that the new Labour Proclamation No. 1156/2019 explicitly prohibits in the private sector discrimination based on disability (section 14(1)(b)). Moreover, the new Organizations of Civil Societies Proclamation No. 1113/2019 allows organizations, including organizations of persons with disabilities, to propose recommendations for the change or amendment of existing laws, policies or practices or issuance of new laws and policies, which relate to their activities (section 62(4)). The Government also indicates that the new Civil Servants Proclamation No. 1164/2018 proclaims rights for public servants with disabilities. The Government further recalls that the Right to Employment of Persons with Disabilities Proclamation No. 568/2008 gives much attention to the rights of women with disabilities and calls for both gender-based and disability-based affirmative actions. The Government specifies that it is also working toward a Disability Act. The Government declares that continuous awareness raising training programs on Proclamation No. 568/2008 resulted in a better implementation of the text. The Government indicates that the Federal Civil Service Commission, which is in charge of ensuring that the rights of persons with disabilities are respected in the public sector, has translated the proclamations and directives on the employment rights of persons with disabilities into braille and has made the translations available in public libraries. Based on Proclamation No. 568/2008, it has developed legal frameworks to increase the employability of persons with disabilities, such as a “national employment policy and strategy” and vehicle duty free directives. The Government has also adopted a ten-year educational roadmap which takes into consideration the inclusion and special educational needs of students with disabilities, at all levels of educations. The Government reiterates that there are different policies and manuals that provide guidance for the proper implementation throughout the country of inclusive vocational training. The Government adds that Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs are inclusive of people with disabilities. The Government indicates that 43.85 per cent of TVET Institutes has been made accessible to people with disabilities. In addition, more than 20 TVET Institutes Resource Centres have been opened to help persons with disabilities continuing their technical and vocational training. In 2022, about 1,241 people with disability benefited from the TVET’s “short training”. The Government also provides statistics on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice. It indicates that, according to the 2021 Labour Force and Migration Survey (implemented by the Central Statistics Agency of Ethiopia, with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)), the estimated number of economically active persons with disabilities are 437,582, of which 39,655 are unemployed, making the rate of unemployment 9.1 per cent. According to the above-mentioned survey, women with disabilities experience a greater unemployed rate compared to men with disabilities. The Government adds that, in 2016–22, the Federal Urban Job Creation and Food Security Agency has created jobs for 11,091 persons with disabilities, facilitated loans for 2,719 persons with disabilities, furnished offices and places of production and sale for 1,567 persons with disabilities and created market chain for 8,383 persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the report does not contain information on the results and lessons learnt following the expiry of the National Plan of Action of Persons with Disabilities 2012–21 and whether it has been decided to adopt another such plan for the next decade, with a view to effectively guarantee legal protection against disability-based discrimination, multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination faced by persons with disabilities and guarantee the effectiveness of legal remedies. Lastly, the Committee notes that pursuant to the latest data it has at its disposal from the report “Representation of Persons with Disabilities in Ethiopian Labour Force: A Review of National Surveys on Disability Statistics”, in 2013, the labour force participation rate for persons with disabilities was only 55.89 per cent while for those with no disability it was as high as 89.91 per cent. The Committee thus requests the Government to provide updated statistical information on the above and supply relevant new information on the measures and policies adopted to promote access to the open labour market for persons with disabilities.Italso requests the Government to continue to provide information on the impact of such measures. To allow the Committee to fully assess the impact of the measures taken, it requests the Government to include statistics disaggregated by sex, extracts from surveys, reports, studies and inquiries on the matters covered by the Convention. Moreover, noting with regret that, despite its request in that sense, the Government did not provide information on the measures taken to ensure the availability of suitably qualified vocational rehabilitation staff, the Committee reiterates its request in that regard.

Article 5. Consultation of the social partners. The Government indicates that several texts for the rights of persons with disabilities have been adopted with the active participation of organizations of persons with disabilities and after consultation of the Confederation of the Ethiopian Employers Federation (EEF) and of the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU). The Government provides one example of such consultation: the Federation of Ethiopian Associations of Persons with Disabilities (FEAPD), and its constituting associations, actively participated to the adoption of the Ethiopia’s Ten Years Perspective Development Plan. The Government adds that its organs and ministries have also consulted with the FEAPD and its constituting associations in the framework of the development of their respective plan. The Government further indicates that it is supporting the establishment of organizations of persons with disabilities, both from a financial and technical perspective. For instance, in 2019–20, the Government has allocated 15 million Ethiopian birrs (ETB) to associations of persons with disabilities and organizations working on disability at the national level. Regional governments are also supporting associations of persons with disabilities in their respective jurisdictions. The Committee requests the Government to provide further details and concrete examples of consultations held with employers’ and workers’ organizations and organizations of and for persons with disabilities on the implementation of a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities.

Article 8. Services in rural areas and remote communities. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the rate of unemployment of persons with disabilities in rural areas and requests the Government to provide further information on the impact of the activities of the technical and vocational training centres in rural areas and remote communities.