Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

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

Implementation of a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment for persons with disabilities. The Committee notes the succinct replies provided in the Government’s report received in June 2011 to the points raised in its previous comments. The Government indicates that the rehabilitation scheme has provided employable skills training to persons with disabilities. Some resettlement kits are also offered to persons with disabilities. In its 2006 observation, the Committee noted the adoption of the Act of 2003 on the National Disability Council, which included regulations on its composition, duties and administration with a view to promote the rights of persons with disabilities. The Committee again asks the Government to provide in its next report detailed information on the activities of the National Disability Council and other relevant data on steps taken 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).

The Committee notes the adoption of a National Employment Policy (NEP) for Uganda in May 2011 which stresses that persons with disabilities, estimated at 1.5 million in 2007, still face stigmatisation and discrimination in their search for and even during their tenure of employment. The NEP indicates that even among those who are self-employed, their products and services do not easily find markets due to negative societal attitudes and other impediments. The Committee further notes that employment of vulnerable groups is one of the NEP objectives and that the implementation of the National Policy on Persons with Disabilities adopted in 2007 remains a priority. In its previous comments, the Committee also noted that the Employment Act, 2006, included specific requirements relating to the employment of persons with disabilities on a non-discriminatory basis and the publication of an annual report, including, in particular, statistics on employed persons with disabilities, as well as on support provided by employers. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report information on the progress achieved in implementing the Employment Act, 2006, regarding persons with disabilities and to indicate how its implementation ensures accessibility for persons with disabilities to employment services, employment opportunities and to information on employment (Articles 3 and 6). The Committee also invites the Government to provide information on the progress achieved through the implementation of the National Employment Policy concerning vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities and to provide relevant information on the application of the Convention in practice, including statistical information disaggregated, as much as possible, by age, sex and nature of the disability, as well as extracts from reports and studies or inquiries on the matters covered by the Convention (Part V of the report form).