Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Mali (Ratification: 1995)

The Committee takes note of the supplementary information provided by the Government in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020). The Committee proceeded with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the supplementary information received from the Government this year, as well as on the basis of the information at its disposal in 2019.

Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. National policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report on the application of the Convention for the period up to 1 September 2019. The Committee notes that a strategic plan for the protection of persons with disabilities was adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2014. The Government indicates that the Strategic Plan covers the period 2015–2024 but that it is lagging far behind in the mobilization of resources. However, the Committee notes with interest that Act No. 2018-027 of 12 June 2018 on the rights of persons living with disabilities was adopted to promote and protect the rights of persons living with disabilities. Sections 15 to 19 are dedicated to vocational training and employment of persons with disabilities. With regard to employment, it is envisaged in particular that graduates living with disabilities will benefit from specific measures to promote their recruitment in the public and private sectors. The Government indicates that the implementing decree is currently being drafted with the participation of persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the implementation and periodic revision of the national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities, including on the impact of the Strategic Plan for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities (2015–2024). The Committee requests the Government to include information on the measures adopted under the Strategic Plan and the impact that they have had on the labour market integration of workers with disabilities, including mental disabilities. The Committee also requests the Government to include information on the implementation of Act No. 2018-027 of 12 June 2018 on the rights of persons living with disabilities, as well as its impact on the labour market integration of workers with disabilities.

Article 4. Equality of opportunity and treatment. The Committee notes that, in accordance with section 19 of Act No. 2018-027, public bodies and private enterprises reserve a quota of jobs for active people living with disabilities, under conditions governed by regulations. The Government indicates that a political decision was taken to grant 5 per cent of job vacancies in the state public service to persons living with disabilities, and an implementing decree is currently being drafted in this regard. The Committee notes that the module on inclusive education is not yet included in the training manual for trainees in teacher training institutes in Mali. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the practical measures taken or envisaged to ensure equality of opportunity between workers with disabilities and workers in general, as well as between men and women workers with disabilities. The Committee further requests the Government to provide updated and detailed information, including statistics disaggregated by sex, age and economic sector, on the impact of the measures relating to persons living with disabilities on their employment.

Article 5. Consultation with the social partners. In its previous comments, the Commission noted that the Malian Federation of Associations of Persons with Disabilities (FEMAPH) had participated in various initiatives, such as the 2009 and 2010 workshops to monitor the implementation of the recommendations made during the 2007 national workshop on the employment of persons with disabilities. The Government indicates, however, that the monitoring of the implementation of the recommendations made during the 2007 national workshop on the employment of persons with disabilities remains tentative. The Committee recalls that consultations with employers’ and workers’ representative organizations take place through the Higher Labour Council. While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on any developments with regard to the status of the recommendations made during the 2007 national workshop on the employment of persons with disabilities. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the Higher Labour Council in the field of the vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities.

Article 7. Services accessible to persons with disabilities. The Committee refers to its direct request adopted in 2019 concerning the application of the Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88), in which it noted that section 2 of Order No. 01-016/P-RM of 27 February 2001 provides that the National Employment Agency (ANPE) is responsible for supporting the implementation of vocational training, skills training, retraining and placement activities and for the design and implementation of mechanisms and actions to promote employment, including the employment of persons with disabilities. It also refers to its direct request adopted in 2019 concerning the application of the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), in which it notes that the National Council of Private Employment and Temporary Work Agencies in Mali (CONABEM) collaborated with the FEMAPH in 2015 and 2016 on the labour market integration of persons with disabilities in Mali. The Committee requests the Government to describe the programmes established by the services designed to enable persons with disabilities to secure and retain a job and advance professionally. The Committee invites the Government to describe any other measures adopted or envisaged with a view to providing and evaluating vocational guidance services and vocational training for all persons with disabilities of any kind.

Article 8. Accessible services in rural areas and remote communities. The Committee notes the Government’s intention to implement an information campaign on the provisions relating to the rights of persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated and detailed information on vocational rehabilitation and employment services, including the training and professional guidance available to persons with disabilities in rural areas and remote communities, as well as detailed information disaggregated by sex, age and region, on the impact of these services.

Article 9. Suitably qualified staff. The Government indicates that it envisages organizing training workshops in the near future for the various stakeholders on the inclusion of persons with disabilities. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate in its next report the measures taken or envisaged to ensure the availability of suitably qualified vocational rehabilitation staff, as provided for in Article 9 of the Convention.

Part V of the report form. The Committee requests the Government to provide in its next report updated information on the application of the Convention in practice: results of programmes implemented under the national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities, statistics, extracts from reports or surveys.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Committee recalls the detailed guidance provided by international labour standards. In this context, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205), which provides guidance on the development and implementation of measures to respond effectively to the profound socio-economic impacts of the pandemic in fields such as education, vocational training and retraining and employment. In particular, Paragraph 7(h) of Recommendation No. 205 provides that in taking measures on employment and decent work in response to crisis situations, Members should take into account the need to pay special attention to population groups and individuals who have been made particularly vulnerable by the crisis, including persons with disabilities. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report updated information on the impact of the global COVID 19 pandemic on the application of the Convention.