Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Uganda (Ratification: 1990)

1. Implementation of a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment for persons with disabilities. The Committee notes with interest the information provided in the Government’s report received in June 2006 and, in particular, the passing of the Act of 2003 on the National Disability Council, containing regulations on its composition, duties and administration with a view to the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the National Disability Council was set up in August 2004. According to a 2002 census, 844,841 persons out of a total population of 24,442,084 are persons with disabilities. The Committee notes with interest the ILO study of March 2004 on the employment of persons with disabilities in Uganda. The study formed an integral part of the joint programme implemented by Ireland and the ILO entitled “Employment of people with disabilities: The impact of legislation (East Africa)”, set up to help a certain number of African and Asian countries to improve their capacity to implement effective legislation in respect of the employment of disabled persons. In Uganda, this technical assistance project resulted in the adoption, by the Ministry of Labour, Social Development and Gender Equality, of the 2002-07 Strategic National Community Readjustment Plan. The aim of this Plan is to ensure the full integration of disabled persons into the community and guarantee them equal opportunities. The Committee recalls that, at the 95th Session of the Conference in June 2006, the Committee on the Application of Standards also welcomed the approach adopted by the joint programme implemented by Ireland and the ILO, since it sets out to promote the Convention, at the national and international levels, as an instrument prescribing an employment policy that provides adequate measures to integrate persons with disabilities into the open labour market. The Committee hopes that, in its next report, the Government will continue to provide information on steps taken by the National Disability Council to ensure that vocational rehabilitation measures are made available to all persons with disabilities and that different services are established to enable persons with disabilities to secure, retain and advance in employment, particularly in rural areas and remote communities (Articles 3, 7 and 8 of the Convention).

2. The Committee also notes with interest the enactment of the specific provisions relating to the employment of persons with disabilities on a non-discriminatory basis in the Employment Act, 2006, and the provisions for the publication of an annual report, including, in particular, statistics on employed persons with disabilities and aid provided by the employer. It further notes the wide definition of the word “disability” in section 2 of the Act, and it requests the Government to report on its implementation in practice in order to ensure that the benefits of the special provisions relating to the disabled are reaped by those persons whose disabilities, whether physical or mental, are such that their “prospects of securing, retaining or advancing in suitable employment are substantially reduced” (Article 1 of the Convention). The Committee also invites the Government to ensure accessibility for the disabled to employment services, places of employment and to information on employment (Articles 3 and 6) and to continue providing information on the application of this Convention in practice (Part V of the report form).