Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Dominican Republic (Ratification: 1994)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Implementation of a national policy. The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government in its report on training and awareness-raising activities carried out for persons with disabilities in 2013–14, particularly activities carried out as part of programmes for the implementation of disability inclusion policies and inter-institutional links created with non-governmental organizations. The Government indicates that 15 persons were beneficiaries in 2013 and 28 in 2014. The Government also included information on activities carried out jointly by the National Employment Service (SENAE), the Ibero-American Network of Persons with Disabilities and the Foundation for the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities (PROBIEN) aimed at ensuring that persons with disabilities can benefit from the employment placement services proposed by SENAE. The Committee also notes with interest the adoption of Act No. 5–13 of 15 January 2013 concerning disabilities in the Dominican Republic, providing minimum quotas for persons with disabilities in the labour sphere, as well as tax deductions and exemptions. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the manner in which a national policy on the vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities has been implemented and reviewed, describing the public policies and private initiatives designed to integrate such persons into the open labour market. The Committee also requests the Government to report on the impact of Act No. 5–13 in terms of the integration of persons with disabilities in the open labour market. The Committee further requests the Government to provide summaries of studies or evaluations on rehabilitation and employment policies and programmes designed for persons with disabilities.

Article 5. Consultation of representative organizations of employers and workers. The Committee notes the extension of the representation in the executive of the National Disability Council (CONADIS) laid down in Act No. 5–13, providing for the inclusion of representatives from associations of parents or guardians of persons with mental or intellectual disabilities, institutions of persons with multiple disabilities and an institution that groups together persons with various disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the consultations with representative organizations of employers and workers required by the Convention.

Article 8. Services in rural areas. In reply to the Committee’s request, the Government indicates that Programme 13 promotes policies for the insertion in the labour market of persons in situations of vulnerability and the inclusion of persons with disabilities in rural areas. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply information on the impact of the measures taken to promote the establishment and development of vocational rehabilitation and employment services for persons with disabilities in rural areas.