Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Malawi (Ratification: 1986)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. National policy for the vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes with interest the adoption in 2018 of the National Disability Mainstreaming Strategy and Implementation Plan (NDMS) covering the period 2018–23. The NDMS outlines key areas to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities, such as access to education, means of livelihood, employment and social inclusion. It includes among is main objectives the reduction of all forms of disability-related discrimination in the labour market, including through removing barriers to access to financial resources and social protection arrangements. In this regard, the NDMS envisages the adoption of measures aimed in particular at: promoting equity in selection, training and employment processes and procedures for persons with disabilities; establishing a 1 per cent employment quota of persons with disabilities and providing tax incentives to employers who meet this quota; developing and monitoring the implementation of measures for reasonable accommodation in all training and employment processes and providing funds to facilitate reasonable accommodation in workplaces; and providing advisory and support services to employees with disabilities through job support programmes undertaken in collaboration with both the public and the private sectors. The NDMS also provides for the development and implementation of an integrated labour market information management system (LMIS) to compile and analyse statistical data on the employment and retention of persons with disabilities in the open labour market, as well as developing and maintaining a database of profiles, job prospects and job matching of persons with disabilities seeking employment. With respect to access to education, the NDMS contemplates the adoption of measures to promote access to equitable, relevant and quality education for persons with disabilities, such as establishing model inclusive primary and secondary schools in all education divisions; conducting research to establish levels of implementation of inclusive education, practices, challenges and recommend possible solutions; and establishing education support systems for persons with disabilities at secondary and tertiary levels. The Committee also notes that, according to the NDMS, a number of national strategies and policies include the empowerment of persons with disabilities among its cross-cutting objectives, such as the medium-term Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III (MGDSIII) for the period 2017–22, and the National Education Sector Plan (NESP) 2017–20. The Government also refers to the implementation of its National Employment and Labour Policy (NELP). It indicates that, once implementation of the NELP is at a more advanced stage, it will provide information on the impact on measures taken under the NELP, with special reference to vocational rehabilitation, guidance services and the employment of persons with disabilities on the open labour market. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the status and impact of the measures adopted to promote employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in the open labour market in both the public and private sectors, including those adopted in the framework of the National Disability Mainstreaming Strategy and Implementation Plan (NDMS), the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III (MGDSIII), and the National Employment and Labour Policy (NELP). It also requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the practical application of the Convention, including statistical data, disaggregated by age and sex, as well as extracts from reports, studies and inquiries concerning the matters covered by the Convention.

Article 4. Effective equality of opportunities and treatment between men and women workers with disabilities, and between workers with disabilities and other workers. The Committee notes that, according to the NDMS, there are very high levels of poverty among persons with disabilities in Malawi due to exclusion. In particular, the NDMS emphasizes that women with disabilities rank significantly lower than men with disabilities as well as women without disabilities in terms of access to education, employment and earnings. Against this background, the NDMS contemplates the adoption of measures with a view to promoting entrepreneurship and the involvement of women with disabilities in business groups, including providing training for women with disabilities in basic business skills, promoting their inclusion in cooperatives, and facilitating the provision of micro-finance, loans and saving schemes to women with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the nature and impact of measures adopted or envisaged to ensure effective equality of opportunities and treatment in employment and occupation between women and men with disabilities, and between workers in general and workers with disabilities. The Government is also requested to provide updated information on the impact of these measures on the employment of men and women with disabilities on the open labour market, including statistics disaggregated by sex, age and economic sector.

Article 5. Consultation with the social partners and organizations of and for persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the NDMS was developed with the active participation of a broad range of actors, including relevant sectoral government ministries and departments, the Norwegian Association of the Disabled (NAD), CBM International (previously known as the Christian Blind Mission), the Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi (FEDOMA), the Malawi Council for the Handicapped (MACOHA), the Africa Disability Alliance (ADA), and the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC). The Committee further notes that the NDMS includes among its main strategies strengthening the participation of men and women with disabilities at all levels in decision making and development. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated detailed information on the content and outcome of the consultations held within the social partners and with organizations of persons with disabilities on the implementation of vocational rehabilitation and employment measures for persons with disabilities.

Articles 7 and 8. Services accessible to persons with disabilities, including in rural and remote areas. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on vocational rehabilitation and employment services, including vocational guidance and training and employment placement services, made available to persons with disabilities in rural areas and remote communities, as well as information on the impact of these services.

Article 9. Training of suitably qualified staff. The Committee welcomes the provisions in the NDMS which envisage the adoption of measures to train vocational training staff in disability-inclusive vocational training and management. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated information on the impact of the measures taken with a view to ensuring the training and availability of advisers specialized in rehabilitation and of other qualified staff responsible for ensuring the provision of vocational guidance and training, and the placement and employment of persons with disabilities in the open labour market.

In the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee recalls the broad guidance provided by international labour standards. In this regard, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205), which provides guidance for the development and implementation of measures in areas such as education, vocational training and retraining, and employment, that effectively respond to the profound socioeconomic effects of the pandemic. For instance, Paragraph 7(h) of Recommendation No. 205, provides that, in taking measures on employment and decent work in response to crisis situations, member States 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, but not limited to, persons with disabilities. The Committee invites the Government to provide in its next report updated information on the impacts of the pandemic on the implementation of vocational rehabilitation and employment policies and programmes for persons with disabilities and measures taken to address these.