Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Uruguay (Ratification: 1988)

Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. Implementation of a national policy. In reply to the previous comments, in August 2014, the Government provided detailed information on the implementation of the Vocational Training Programme for Persons with Disabilities (PROCLADIS) during the period 2009–13 and the Programme’s strategic plan for 2010–15. The Government indicates that during the period 2009–13, the National Institute for Vocational Training and Employment (INEFOP) provided a total of 55 vocational training courses under PROCLADIS that were attended by 736 persons. The Committee notes that 30 per cent of those who received training during that period entered the labour market, meeting the goal that was set in the Programme’s strategic plan for 2010–15. The Government also provided data from the Social Insurance Bank that show that 71 per cent of a total of 1,601 persons who received training between 1999 and 2012 entered the labour market and that 30 per cent of such placements were administered by PROCLADIS. The Committee notes that the main goals of the Programme’s strategic plan for 2010–15 include increasing courses by 20 to 30 per cent, training between 4 and 5 per cent of the working-age population, and signing one agreement per year with enterprises and/or unions to help persons with disabilities enter the labour market. The Committee also notes with interest the enactment in February 2010 of Act No. 18651 on the comprehensive protection of persons with disabilities, which states that “occupational and vocational guidance and rehabilitation shall be provided to all persons with disabilities according to their vocation, possibilities and needs, and efforts shall be made to facilitate their exercise of a remunerative activity”. Moreover, with regard to the participation of persons with disabilities in the public service, the Government reports that a new Regulations of Service of the Public Service (Act No. 19121 of 2013) has been enacted, which establishes that “in access to the public service and administrative careers, there shall be no discrimination based on gender, disability, membership to a minority or any other type, without prejudice to the necessary requirements of the service and specific affirmative action measures”. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing quantitative information on the results achieved by PROCLADIS and the goals of its strategic plan for 2010–15. Please also provide information on the impact that Acts Nos 18651 and 19121 have had on the labour market integration of workers with disabilities in the private and public sectors. Please also include information on the participation of the social partners in the development and implementation of a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and the employment of persons with disabilities.