International Day of Disabled Persons

3 December, 2007

Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities

Decent Work

Work that meets people’s basic aspirations, not only for income, but for security of themselves and their families, without discrimination or harassment, and providing equal treatment for women and men (ILO)

Poverty and Disability

• Less than 2 percent of children with disabilities in low income countries go to school

• Discrimination and lack of access to basic services lock many people with disabilities and their families in poverty

• Up to 80 percent of people with disabilities of working age are gainfully employed in some countries

• 1 out of 6 people living on less than $1 a day has a disability

• Workers who become disabled living in countries with no official safety nets often slide, along with their families, into poverty

Gender and Poverty

• Women and girls with disabilities experience even further marginalization

• Girls with disabilities are less likely to go to school than boys with disabilities

• Women with disabilities are not included in women’s groups and are often marginalized by men in the disability movement

• Women with disabilities are often left to rear their children on their own

Cost of exclusion

• There is large socio-economic cost of excluding a significant percentage of the workforce.

• The exclusion of people with disabilities from work imposes a financial burden on the family, the community and on those that provide support and care, including major costs to social welfare and social security systems in some countries.

• Such exclusion from work also represents the loss of a significant amount of productivity and income.

» Draft CBR Guidelines, WHO, ILO, UNESCO

Poverty Reduction

We cannot seriously hope to meet poverty reduction goals withoutincluding people withdisabilities in the effort

Poverty in a wealthy world

“The poor stay poor not because they are lazy, but because they have no access to capital”

Milton Friedman

Formal and Informal Economies

• In many parts of the world, formal financial services are only available to the wealthy

• The vast majority of people in low income countries support their families through the informal economy

• Informal businesses are often the only way for people to earn a living

• 90% of workers in India, 60% of non-agricultural workers in Latin America and 67% in Africa are employed in the informal sector

Rural and Urban Differencesin low income countries

• Workers in cities tend to have individual jobs• Workers in the countryside often earn their

livelihood through a family enterprise (farming, animal husbandry, etc.); there are very few ‘jobs’ in the formal sense

• Families in poor communities, whether urban or rural, often survive through various sources of income; mutual support and cooperation is key

Decent work: A path out of poverty and stigma

“When we have money, people call us by our names, not by our disabilities”

Lizzie Longshaw

How do we get there?

• Skills development

• Self employment

• Financial services

• Waged employment

• Social protectionessential elements for livelihood:

Draft CBR Guidelines, WHO, ILO, UNESCO

Skills Development

• The foundations for skills development often are laid in school.

• Most children with disabilities are not in school

• For youth in school (both with and without disabilities) preparation for adult life (and work) is an important element of secondary and higher level education

Transition to work

Transition to work programs in cooperation with Chambers of Commerce

Access to available skills training programs supported by government and industry

What about the 98 percent?

Only about 2 % of children with

disabilities in low income countries go to school.

This means the vast majority have no access to an educational

foundation for work.

Community based skills training

Using resources and knowledge in the family and neighborhood

Self Employment

Whether through involvement in family agricultural activities or through the establishment of a micro enterprise, self employment is a viable work option for people with and without disabilities

Micro enterprises drive the economy of and are the chief means of support to many

families and communities

Financial Services

• Since the 1970’s, microfinance has been a major development and poverty reduction strategy

• The strategy is showing good success in a range of countries and circumstances

• It’s importance is highlighted by the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize (2006) to Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and a microfinance pioneer

Exclusion of people with disabilities

• Financial services programs, including microfinance, have largely ignored people with disabilities.

• While other marginalized groups (women for example) have been specifically targeted by these programs, people with disabilities have not.

• This exclusion is largely the result of lack of awareness and discrimination

When given a chance, people with disabilities are successful entrepreneurs

Teach a woman to fish and her family eats for a lifetime

Waged Employment

• The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others (Article 27.1)

• There are no jobs that are ‘best suited’ for people with disabilities

• People with disabilities who are looking for work, like all job seekers, have their own interests, skills and experience

Outreach, opportunity, workplace attitude, reasonable accommodation

and retention strategies all contribute to decent work

Breaking stereotypes so that our children will know better

Social Protection

• In high income countries the vast majority of people have social protection in the form of a pension as well as protection against loss of income resulting from disability or illness

• In low income countries the great majority of people survive in the informal economy with no formal protection against loss of income in old age, or through illness or disability

‘Are you disabled?’

What can we do?

• Recognize the problem

• Acknowledge our responsibility

• Take action to eliminate barriers

• Include people w/ disabilities in the process

• Find out if the strategies are working

• YOU can do it; together we can do it!

(and RATIFY the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities)

Thank you for helping us honor International Day of Disabled Persons

Merci. Danke, Gracias, Grazie, Obrigado