Employment of Persons with Disabilities

Under Article 27, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) provides for the right to employment and to gain a living. The Article stipulates that States Parties should recognise the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others. This includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities.

Employment, poverty and disability are intricately interlinked. Poverty can cause disability with its associated malnutrition, poor health services and sanitation, and unsafe living and working conditions. Conversely, the presence of a disability can trap people in a life of poverty because of the barriers persons with disabilities face in taking part in education, employment, social activities, and indeed all aspects of life.

The high incidence of poverty in Africa is the primary development challenge facing the continent today. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence of poverty in the world and unlike almost all other regions of the world, poverty in this region has been rising over the last decade.

In addition, the region has been confronted with multi-dimensional crises such as famine, floods, wars, HIV/AIDS and various endemic diseases. Underlying all these is the phenomenon of unemployment which to some observers, is at the core of the problems of the African sub-region.

The African Common Position on Human and Social Development in Africa, a document prepared for the World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen 1995, highlighted some of the human and social issues of concern for the African region. One of the core issues addressed by the Summit and which was emphasised in the African Common Position was the promotion of productive employment and the reduction of unemployment.

However, follow-up conferences in Africa recognised various constraints and challenges to the achievement of the Programme of Action adopted at the World Summit. With respect to employment creation, it was recognised that a major challenge is the design of comprehensive, integrated and coherent employment policies to facilitate the attainment of objectives. Basically, the most preferred term used to describe the fore-going is “mainstreaming” which refers to the process of inclusion of persons with disabilities, ensuring their active and meaningful participation at all levels of society without facing any barrier.

Unfortunately, although efforts are underway by many governments to mainstream disability in their policies and programme implementation, persons with disabilities continue to face huge challenges in accessing meaningful employment in most of these countries. Indeed, “comprehensive, integrated and coherent employment policies” has for decades been the key demand of not only the international disability movement, but also the UN's Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities unveiled in 1996.