Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Madagascar (Ratification: 1998)

The Committee notes the observations of the Christian Confederation of Malagasy Trade Unions (SEKRIMA), transmitted with the Government’s report. The Committee notes that the SEKRIMA reiterates its previous observations on the application of the Convention. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide its comments on this subject.

Article 3 of the Convention. Employment promotion for persons with disabilities in the public and private sectors. Since 2010, the Committee has been requesting the Government to provide information on the measures taken to promote the employment of persons with disabilities in the public and private sectors, and to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice (Part V of the report form). In its observations, the SEKRIMA notes that persons with disabilities experience difficulties with employment and accessibility, as the majority of administrative offices are still not accessible. It adds that measures intended to encourage enterprises to recruit persons with disabilities should be explicit and achievable. In this regard, the Committee notes that section 18 of Act No. 97-044, of 19 December 1997, on persons with disabilities, to which the Government refers in its report, provides that “through the adoption of promotional and monitoring measures, the State shall facilitate the recruitment of persons with disabilities in private and public enterprises”. Moreover, section 29 of Decree No. 2001-162 issued under Act No. 97 044 provides that the State shall encourage the rehabilitation, vocational training and recruitment of persons with disabilities in public and private enterprises. The Committee also notes that Decree No. 2001-162 provides for the establishment of a national commission for persons with disabilities empowered to issue decisions on all matters relating to the integration and social rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide precise and detailed information on the specific measures adopted with a view to promoting the employment of persons with disabilities in the public and private sectors. It invites the Government to provide detailed information on the activities of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities and on the impact of its activities. The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice, including statistics (disaggregated by sex and age), extracts from reports, studies or investigations into issues covered by the Convention (Part V of the report form).

Article 4. Effective equality of opportunities and treatment for persons with disabilities. Since 2010, the Committee has been requesting the Government to provide information on the special positive measures taken with the aim of ensuring effective equality of opportunity and treatment for workers with disabilities. The Government refers once again to Act No. 2003-044, of 28 July 2004, issuing the Labour Code, and particularly section 105, which prohibits discrimination and provides that persons with disabilities have the right to work and to employment, to equality of opportunity and treatment in apprenticeship, vocational training and employment. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the special positive measures adopted to ensure effective equality of opportunities and treatment between workers in general and workers with disabilities, including information on the impact of these measures on the employment of persons with disabilities, including statistics disaggregated by economic sector and sex.

Article 5. Consultation of representative organizations. The Government indicates that no information has been received from the department responsible for the application of the Convention. The Committee notes with regret that it has been requesting the Government since 2010 to provide detailed information on the consultations held in relation to the matters covered by the Convention. It recalls that Article 5 of the Convention requires consultations with representative organizations of employers, workers and persons with disabilities. Furthermore, the Committee notes the observations of the SEKRIMA noting the absence of a representative organization of persons with disabilities. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on the measures adopted to ensure that consultations are held on all of the matters referred to in Article 5 of the Convention, and to provide information on the outcome of these consultations.

Article 8. Development of services in rural areas and remote communities. The Committee noted previously that regional committees to monitor employment promotion and poverty reduction (CRSPERP) had been established in ten of the 22 regions of the country and that two regional centres for the vocational training of persons with disabilities had been established in the north-west and south of the country. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on vocational rehabilitation and employment services, including the vocational guidance and training made available to persons with disabilities in rural areas and remote communities, as well as information on the impact of these services.

Article 9. Suitably qualified staff. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the measures taken in training centres to ensure the availability to those concerned of suitably qualified staff responsible for the vocational guidance, vocational training, placement and employment of persons with disabilities.

[The Government is asked to reply in full detail to the present comments in 2019.]