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Making inclusion a reality Social justice and decent employment for people with disabilities

Making inclusion a reality Social justice and decent employment for people with disabilities. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

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Making inclusion a reality Social justice and decent employment for people with disabilities

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  1. Making inclusion a realitySocial justice and decent employment for people with disabilities SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS The situation of people with disabilities (pwds) in Mozambique is characterized by extreme levels of poverty, low levels of education and illiteracy, and low self esteem. These factors present particular challenges to disabilities when it comes to organizing around their issues and influencing policy makers and other development actors about disability issues. These also negatively affect inclusion of pwds in the labor market.

  2. Cont. • This attitude led to the beginning of the Disability Movement through the creation of an Association called “Association of Disabled Mozambicans (ADEMO) on 18th November 1989, congregating all types of disability. It is now 24 years since the beginning of the disability movement in Mozambique, and we are counting with 17 associations of and for pwds, all uniting forces through their Forum called FAMOD, to promote and protect the rights of pwds, of which AJODEMO and ADESU are members. Since then, a lot of results have been achieved, but pwds are still very far from enjoying their full human rights, especially access to basic services like education, employment and professional training, health and rehabilitation services, among others.

  3. Cont. • Other than being excluded from development programs, pwds are also excluded from HIV/AIDS Programs. For most state policy-makers or service providers in the disability community HIV/AIDS is not a `high profile` issue. Very few are able to offer specific information about policies, educational material, counseling and testing, or consumer or staff training programs. Some people continue to believe that pwds are not sexually active and therefore are not at risk of being infected by HIV/AIDS

  4. There is no clear data in Mozambique about the exact number of people with disabilities, and much less about the number of employed pwds. This fact makes it difficult to say the number of men, women, boys and girls with disabilities, their disability types and their age groups. • The information that exists at the moment is far from the real Mozambican situation. The last census that was realized in Mozambique by the National Institute of Statistics in 2007 did not produce this data because the questionnaire that was used did not allow provision of this information.

  5. Cont. • Data available at the moment comes from studies carried out by WHO, World Bank and SINTEF. It happens that this data is not exhaustive since it is based on samples and not all districts were covered. • Mozambique, like most African countries is yet below the average standard expectations for the fight against violation of the rights of pwds.

  6. NORMATIVE FRAMEWORK AND IMPLEMENTATION • Mozambique has numerous laws, plans and strategies that guarantee promotion of rights of people with disabilities. Legal instruments that promote and protect rights of pwds in Mozambique are: • The Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique: The Constitution guarantees equal rights to all in all sectors including the job market. Article 35 says “ … equal rights and obligations for all Mozambican citizens”, and article 37 which says “ citizens with disabilities enjoy plainly the rights that are presented in the Constitution”, among other articles.

  7. The United Nations Convention on Rights People with Disabilities (UNCRPD): The widely talked about UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities was finally ratified by the Government of Mozambique (2011). Ratification of this convention brought a tremendous amount of euphoria about what it would contribute to the living conditions of pwds in Mozambique through a process of inclusion and equality, principally in education, employment and vocational training (Art 5 – Equality and non discrimination; Art 9 – Accessibility; Art 24 – Education; and Art 27 – Work and Employment; among others.

  8. Cont. • National Plan for the Disabled Area – PNAD 11 (2012 -2019): This plan’s objectives are: a) promote plain participation, equality and empowerment of pwds; b) ensure the principle of equality of rights and opportunities for pwds; c) establish a vocational and professional orientation system for pwds; d) promote access of pwds to programs of professional training; and e) identifying alternative mechanisms of auto-employment for pwds, among other rights

  9. The Strategy for Disabled People in the Public Sector (2009 – 2013): The government of Mozambique through The Strategy for Disabled People in the Public Sector (2009 – 2013), resolution number 68/2009 of 27th of November, established that the public sector should integrate people with disabilities, with the following rates: a company with 100 – 500 employees, 1.5% should be of pwds; 600 – 900 employees – 3%; 1000 and more – 5%.

  10. Cont. • Regulation: This was established through Decree 53/2008 to guarantee access of pwds to the physical environment and to all basic services available in the country such as education, health and rehabilitation, employment and vocational training, etc • Policy of Persons with Disabilities (Resolution no. 20/99 of 23rd June); • National Plan of Action for the Disability Action 2006 – 2010;

  11. ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT AND POLICY MAINSTREAMING • Mozambique has numerous laws, plans and strategies that guarantee promotion of rights of pwds, but there is little or no sense having these important laws when they are not put into practice. One of the biggest problems that PWDs face in Mozambique is lack of information, given that a majority of them have little or no education. They are left out of almost all national activities and development programs. Most of them, especially in rural areas, have never head of the UN Convention on Rights of Pwds.

  12. Cont. Surprisingly even district Social Welfare authorities do not know about this important instrument, let alone the other national plans like PNAD, Accessibility Resolution, PEN 111, among others. There is lack of publication of these legal instruments on the part of the government and the media.

  13. The dominant model of inclusion is of charity other than rights based. Very few are permanently employed on rights bases, thus they can not maintain themselves in their posts for long and they can not claim their benefits such as promotion, pay increases, leave days, etc • The government does not create conditions for disabled people to have bank loans so that they can engage in auto-employment. Given the poverty situation in which most of them are submerged, they can not afford to present the guarantees that the local banks ask for.

  14. Challenges to inclusion of PWD in productive employment and descent work: • Attitudinal Barriers • Socio-Economic Barriers • Physical/Environmental Barriers • Political Barriers

  15. Attitudinal Barriers • Human Resources meet serious constraints when it comes to interviewing pwds and knowing their special necessities, and Recruitment agencies have not taken into consideration employment of pwds; • Lack of the ability to organize and influence policy makers and other key players assertively. The gap between policy makers and pwds is huge and effectively keep pwds down and out as a result of the gaps in knowledge, skills and language;

  16. Cont. A dominant image of pwds as beggars militates against their ability to assert themselves as advocates of their cause, and to taken seriously as such; There are difficulties in traversing the bridge from welfare to development. The “charity” ethic is running deep among pwds in Mozambique.

  17. Socio-Economic Barriers • Non availability of assistive technology for people with sight and hearing impairments, and lack of aid devices for other types of disabilities, for example. wheel chairs, crutches, etc. • Ill preparation of most pwds for the job market because of very low levels of education and high levels of illiteracy. • Pwds find it difficult to join and do well in the job market because of lack of previous experience and vocational training.

  18. Physical/Environmental Barriers • Most office buildings do not offer minimum accessibility conditions, especially for wheel chair users. They do not have ramps and/or elevatorsand necessary adjustments may call for elevated financial and technical resources;

  19. Political Barriers • Lack of respect of laws that protect people with disabilities on the part of the government, employers and civil society; • Most local teachers are not trained to lead with children with disabilities, especially those with visual and hearing impairments. The country does not have learning materials in Braille and the is lack of sign language teachers; • Lack of respect of laws that protect people with disabilities on the part of the government, employers and civil society; • Little or no involvement, exclusion and low self-esteem of pwds;

  20. The need for the disability movement to be decentralized away from Maputo to the outlying rural areas of the country; • Lack of publication of legal national and international instruments that promote and protect the rights and interests of pwds; • The necessity to have clear and up-to-date statistical data about disability. • The Ministry of Woman and Social Welfare that is responsible for disability issues is seen by DPOs as a helpless spectator, with no resources for disability work.

  21. RECOMMENDATIONS • In Mozambique there are excellent policies, strategies and plans that promote and protect rights of people with disabilities, but these important instruments exist on the paper and their implementation is not felt, let alone known by the intended beneficiaries and the society in general, including government authorities especially in rural districts. We recommend that these policies get published as much as possible; • The government should establish a legal framework for disability with penalties for those who violate the rights of pwds;

  22. Cont. The government should monitor implementation of its policies and the UN Convention on Rights of Pwds collaboration with DPOs; The government and NGOs working in the disability sector should implement rehabilitation programs for frustrated pwds and those with no courage to face job market challenges.

  23. Recommendations (cont.) • The government should to establish clear and rigorous anti-fraud and anti-corruption policies and enabling workplace for pwds; • Employers should create enabling workplace for pwds. Many people with disabilities abandon jobs not because they do not want to work, but because of the environment, thus “Employees do not leave the company, but they leave the manager”. There is need for positive attitudinal feelings, looking at employees with disabilities just like any other employee with competence, aptitude, knowledge and experience;

  24. Cont. The Disability Movement should strengthen its relations with the Ministry of Education and help in designing learning programs that are inclusive; Just like any other employee, a person with a disability needs help (e.g. training) so that she is able to perform well and apply her potential for company and individual carrier progress, which include promotion and other benefits;

  25. Recommendations (cont.) • There should be national Professional Rehabilitation Programs for PwDs. This involves capacity building of pwds, a process that gives them “legs with which to walk or on which to stand”, increasing their skills to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate their work; • Donors should give follow-up financial support that taps into the knowledge and skills acquired during training. Training that is not followed up to enable its potential utilization is roundly described as “training for nothing”;

  26. Cont. The government of Mozambique should implement alternative employment programs where pwds are given a function according to their capacity, but with proper and continuous supervision; It is empirical that a national survey is carried out to identify the exact number of people with disabilities, type of disability, gender, age academic and professional status, their difficulties and necessities and their living conditions in general; We also recommend creation of a national Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce federal laws which make it illegal to discriminate against job applicants and employees due to their disability.

  27. Recommendations (conti) • It was very important if we could have more organizations like Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the foundation that is working with AJODEMO in various activities including training, sensitization, publication of legal instruments that protect rights of pwds, and much more.

  28. THANK YOU OBRIGADO

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