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Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Azerbaijan (RATIFICATION: 1992)

The Committee notes the Government’s replies to the 2005 direct request received in August 2010.

Article 2 and 8 of the Convention. National policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities, and services in rural areas. The Government indicates that, under the Employment Strategy 2006–15 and the Programme for the Implementation of the Employment Strategy 2007–10, measures are being implemented in order to allow the integration of persons with disabilities in society and increase their level of employment. The Government reports that, in the period 2007–09, 716 persons with disabilities were placed in jobs through the employment service, of which 616 were in quota jobs. During the same period, 178 persons with disabilities were enroled in vocational training courses. In the first quarter of 2010, 48 persons with disabilities were placed in jobs. The Committee notes that, from 2007 to 2010, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection organized vocational training courses addressed at young persons with disabilities in the suburbs of Baku and in the Ramana housing estate. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information regarding the measures taken to promote the establishment and development of vocational rehabilitation and employment services for persons with disabilities in cities, rural areas and remote communities. The Committee also invites the Government to continue to provide information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including for example statistics disaggregated by sex, extracts from reports, studies and inquiries, concerning the matters covered by the Convention (Part V of the report form).

Article 5. Consultation of the social partners. The Government refers to section 15 of the Employment Act which provides that for the purpose of preparing coordinated decisions in the employment sphere, national and local coordinating committees are established, made up of an equal number of representatives of trade unions, employers’ organizations, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, relevant national and local government agencies and voluntary organizations representing the interests of citizens in special need of social protection. The Government further recalls that the Cabinet of Ministers Decree No. 40 of 5 March 2002 provides that the national coordinating committee, amongst other functions, discusses proposals of regional and municipal employment centres on job quotas to provide employment for people experiencing difficulty in obtaining a job placement. The Committee invites the Government to further describe in its next report the manner in which representative employers’ and workers’ organizations, and representative organizations of and for persons with disabilities are consulted in practice regarding the implementation of the vocational rehabilitation and employment policy for persons with disabilities.

Article 9. Training of suitably qualified staff. The Committee once again invites the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure the availability of suitably qualified vocational rehabilitation staff.