International Day of Disabled Persons

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International Day of Disabled Persons

• 3 December, 2007
• Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities

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Decent Work
Work that meets peoples 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)
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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

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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
  womens groups and are often marginalized by men
  in the disability movement
• Women with disabilities are often left to rear
  their children on their own

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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

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Poverty Reduction
We cannot seriously hope to meet poverty
reduction goals without including people
with disabilities in the effort
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Poverty in a wealthy world
The poor stay poor not because they are lazy,
but because they have no access to
capital Milton Friedman
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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

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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

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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
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How do we get there?

• Skills development
• Self employment
• Financial services
• Waged employment
• Social protection
• essential elements for livelihood
• Draft CBR Guidelines, WHO, ILO, UNESCO

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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

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Transition to work
Transition to work programs in cooperation with
Chambers of Commerce
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Access to available skills training programs
supported by government and industry
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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.
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Community based skills training
Using resources and knowledge in the family and
neighborhood
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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

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Micro enterprises drive the economy of and are
the chief means of support to many families and
communities
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Financial Services

• Since the 1970s, microfinance has been a major
  development and poverty reduction strategy
• The strategy is showing good success in a range
  of countries and circumstances
• Its importance is highlighted by the awarding of
  the Nobel Peace Prize (2006) to Muhammad Yunus,
  founder of the Grameen Bank and a microfinance
  pioneer

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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

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When given a chance, people with disabilities
are successful entrepreneurs
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Teach a woman to fish and her family eats for a
lifetime
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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

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Outreach, opportunity, workplace attitude,
reasonable accommodation and retention strategies
all contribute to decent work
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Breaking stereotypes so that our children will
know better
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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

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Are you disabled?
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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)

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Thank you for helping us honor
International Day of Disabled Persons Merci.
Danke, Gracias, Grazie, Obrigado