Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Uganda (Ratification: 1990)

Articles 2, 3 and 5 of the Convention. Implementation of a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. Consultations. The Committee notes with interest the set of legislative and policy measures adopted by the Government during the reporting period to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in a broad range of areas, including vocational training and employment. In particular, the Committee notes the adoption of the revised Persons with Disabilities Act in 2020, the revised National Policy on Persons with Disabilities, 2023 (NPPD) and its Action Plan for 2020-2025. The NPPD addresses two significant challenges faced by persons with disabilities: vulnerability and exclusion. Its priority areas include economic empowerment and enhanced access to education services of persons with disabilities. The NPPD envisages the implementation of the following measures: creating direct income support schemes for persons with disabilities in vulnerable situations, enhancing their participation in mainstream economic empowerment programmes and policies and their access to financial services, promoting affirmative actions in employment, and training persons with disabilities in employable and market-led skills. The NPPD was developed through a participatory process involving extensive consultations with a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives of persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that workers’ and employers’ organizations were also consulted during the policy review. The Persons with Disabilities Act, 2020 provides for the establishment, in consultation with the Council for Persons with Disabilities and employers’ organizations, of an employment quota of persons with disabilities, which will be published at least once in every two years (section 9 (6)). It also introduces tax deductions of up to 10 per cent on the chargeable income for employers employing persons with disabilities (section 9 (5)). Lastly, the Government refers to the implementation of a Special grant for Persons with Disabilities aimed at promoting income generating activities and the establishment of public-private partnerships with a view to creating employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. With regard to the employment trends of persons with disabilities, according to the NPPD, unemployment among persons with disabilities stands at 17.1 per cent. Moreover, the Committee observes that, according to the Situational Analysis of Persons with Disabilities in Uganda of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) of September 2020, there are high levels of unemployment for both young persons with disabilities and young people without disabilities, but while 53 per cent of young men and 40 per cent of young women without disabilities are employed, only 34 per cent of young men and 30 per cent of young women with disabilities are employed. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated information on (i) the content and the impact of the measures takento secure, retain and promote opportunities for persons with disabilities to find employment in the open labour market, both in the public and private sectors, including those adopted in the framework of NPPD and its Action Plan for 2020-2025 and thePersons with Disabilities Act, 2020; (ii) the advancement of the establishment of an employment quota of persons with disabilities, as required by section 9(6) of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2020 and its impact in both the public and the private sectors; and (iii) statistical data on the employment, unemployment and underemployment rate of persons with disabilities in the open labour market, disaggregated, by age and sex.

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 observes that, according to the 2020 Situational Analysis of MGLSD, while 29 per cent of young men and 40 per cent of young women without disabilities are not in employment, education, or training (NEET), 61 per cent of young men who are unable to perform functional activities are in NEET, reaching 82 per cent among women who cannot do functional activities. The 2020 Situational Analysis points out that, even when persons with disabilities do have the necessary qualifications, they struggle to find employment in comparison to their peers without disabilities. This is due to a number of reasons, including discriminatory attitudes towards persons with disabilities and the workplace not being adapted to their impairment. Against this background, the Committee notes that section 9 (1) of the Persons with Disabilities Act of 2020 establishes a set of measures to ensure non-discrimination in employment of persons with disabilities, including the obligation of the employer to provide reasonable accommodation to an applicant with a disability who applies for a job to undertake the job interview, and to an employee with a disability in the performance of the job or task (section 9 (2) (b) and (c)). It also prohibits termination of employment on the basis of disability (section 9 (3) (i)). With regard to non-discrimination in terms of remuneration, the Act establishes that it constitutes discrimination against a person with a disability, when the remuneration or benefits given to an employee with a disability is less than that given to the other employees who perform similar tasks (section 9 (3) (d)). The Committee observes, however, that this provision does not ensure that persons with disabilities receive equal remuneration for work of equal value. The Committee also notes the measures envisaged in the NPPD with a view to promoting equal access to education for persons with disabilities, including enhanced access to scholarships for students with disabilities at all levels and to assistive technology and services to teachers, schools, and learners with disabilities as well as the provision of meaningful inclusion and reasonable accommodation in education services.

With regard to women with disabilities, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed its concern about the fact that reportedly 80 per cent of women with disabilities have no independent livelihoods or sources of income. The CEDAW also expressed concern that the allocation of only 0.1 per cent of the education sector budget to special needs education and the extremely low enrolment rate among girls with disabilities in both inclusive schools and specialized institutions, due in part to the inadequate facilities for girls with disabilities in public schools (document CEDAW/C/UGA/CO/8-9, 1 March 2022, paragraphs 37(d) and 39(d)). The Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that persons with disabilities receive equal pay for work of equal value. In light of the alarming percentage of women with disabilities that have no independent livelihoods or sources of income, the Committee requests the Government to supply information on the nature and the impact of the measures taken to ensure effective equality of opportunities and treatment in employment and occupation between men and women with disabilities, and between workers with disabilities and other workers as these measures are crucial with a view to upholding human rights and dignity, promoting social justice by reducing inequalities, driving economic productivity and innovation by leveraging a diverse talent pool, and, boosting workplace retention, and company’s’ public image and reputation.

Articles 7 and 8. Services accessible to persons with disabilities, including in rural and remote areas. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the MGLSD manages five regional vocational rehabilitation centres for persons with disabilities (Kireka and Lweza in Wakiso district, Ruti in Mbarara, Mpumudde in Jinja and Ocoko in Arua). The Government reports that persons with disabilities are trained in various vocational skills, including carpentry tailoring, shoe making, hairdressing, metal works and fabrication, welding, and weaving. The Government also refers to the implementation of Community-based rehabilitation programmes (CBRP), which offer a range of services from awareness raising, health assessments, counselling, assistive devices, and livelihoods programmes. According to the Situational Analysis of the MGLSD these CBRP largely no longer exist. Lastly, the Government indicates that, in the framework of a plan for the land mine victims, training is provided in schools in the affected war zones to integrate persons with disabilities into communities after attainment of skills. The Committee notes that 80 per cent of the persons with disabilities live in rural areas, and it also observes that the Government does not provide information on the number of persons with disabilities who benefited from vocational rehabilitation and employment services and which of them subsequently found employment that would allow to assess the impact of such measures. The Committee, therefore, requests the Government to provide information, including statistical information disaggregated by age and sex, on the measures taken also in the framework of theplan for the land mine victims to ensure the effective provision of vocational rehabilitation and employment services in rural areas and remote communities. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the status of the community-based rehabilitation programmes and the nature and impact of their services.

Article 9. Training of suitably qualified staff. The Government reports that the regional vocational rehabilitation centres provide limited training in employment skills due to limitations in instructors and facilities. In this regard, the Committee notes from the 2020 Situational Analysis of the MGLSD that centres are managed by Rehabilitation Officers who are predominantly young civil servants with very little training or experience in rehabilitation or disability. The Committee, therefore, requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the training and availability of suitably qualified advisers specialized in rehabilitation and of other qualified staff responsible for ensuring the provision of vocational guidance and training, as well as for the placement and employment of persons with disabilities in the open labour market. It requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the nature and impact of measures taken in this regard.