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

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (Ratification: 1996)

Articles 1–4 of the Convention. National policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment for persons with disabilities. The Committee notes with interest the Persons with Disabilities (General) Act (Act No. 223), promulgated on 2 March 2012, and its Regulations, issued by Supreme Decree No. 1893 on 12 February 2014. The Committee notes in particular that section 5(19) of the Act establishes the right of persons with disabilities to integrated employment in ordinary enterprises, namely employment under the same conditions as the other workers, male or female, without disabilities, in public or private institutions. Section 34 of the Act, on the working environment, provides that the State, at all levels of government, shall prepare development plans, programmes and projects which are geared among other things to the creation of jobs for persons with disabilities, while section 18 of the Regulations requires the central government to mainstream policies for the labour integration of persons with disabilities in the plans, programmes and/or projects it implements, promoting access for persons with disabilities to employment and to decent work. The Act also sets a requirement for the State to promote access to credit for the financing of self-employment projects and the organization of cooperatives for persons with disabilities. The Committee also notes the establishment of the National Committee for Persons with Disabilities and the National Solidarity and Equity Fund by Supreme Decree No. 839 of 6 April 2011.

The Government includes in its report a study conducted in November 2014 on employment opportunities and income generating initiatives for persons with disabilities, which reports an unemployment rate of over 80 per cent nationwide among persons with disabilities. The Government is engaged in efforts to meet the 4 per cent quota of workers with disabilities in public institutions established in Supreme Decree No. 27477 of 4 May 2004. The Committee notes in this regard the final conclusions (CRPD/C/BOL/CO/1) relating to the State’s Initial Report, issued in August 2016 by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in which that committee expresses concern at the failure to implement employment quotas and the high unemployment rates among persons with disabilities, observing that the immunity from dismissal granted to persons with disabilities and members of their families by Act No. 223 may discourage employers from hiring persons with disabilities.

The Committee requests the Government to report on the application of Act No. 223 and the impact it has had on the integration of persons with disabilities in the open labour market, including information on the formulation and application of policies for the placement of persons with disabilities in jobs in accordance with the Act and its regulations. Please also provide information on the work of the National Solidarity and Equity Fund and on the results of the special positive measures undertaken to ensure effective equality of opportunity and treatment between persons with disabilities and other workers (Article 4).

Article 5. Consultations with employers’ and workers’ organizations. Consultations with organizations of and for persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that section 44 of Act No. 223 provides that public policies and programmes and projects concerning disabilities shall be subject to standing consultations with the organizations of persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to report on the consultations held with the social partners and with organizations representing persons with disabilities about the application of the national policy on vocational rehabilitation for persons with disabilities.

Articles 7 and 8. Vocational training and employment intermediation services. The Committee notes that the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare, in coordination with the Ministry of Production Development and the Plural Economy, has been implementing a training for work project for persons with disabilities which envisages the promotion of entrepreneurship. The Departmental Social Management Services (SEDEGES) offer vocational training services for persons with disabilities and the Bolivian Institute on Blindness implements training projects for persons with visual disabilities. The Committee notes that Supreme Decree No. 29608 of 18 June 2008, which amends and supplements Supreme Decree No. 27477 of 2004, promotes the establishment of production units in which persons with disabilities shall account for at least 25 per cent of the staff and which shall be organized with support and technical advice from the Ministry of Production and Micro-enterprises. Supreme Decree No. 29608 further provides that private institutions shall inform the Ministry of Labour monthly of the requirements of posts that are suited to persons with disabilities so that they may be filled through the employment intermediation services. The Committee requests the Government to report on the activities of the employment intermediation, training and vocational training services offered to persons with disabilities. It also requests the Government to send further information on the vocational guidance and training, placement, employment and other services provided for persons with disabilities living in rural areas and remote communities.