Strategies for skills acquisition and work for people with disabilities in Southern Africa
Strategies for skills acquisition and work for people with disabilities in Southern Africa
The International Labour Organization is the tripartite U.N. agency that promotes Decent Work through employment, social security, labour standards and social dialogue. Its work on skills development is guided by the conceptual framework on Skills to improve productivity, employment growth, and development agreed in 2008 by representatives of Governments, Employers’ Associations and Workers’ Associations. Research, policy advice, and pilot projects and technical cooperation programmes to apply good practices in different circumstances across its 185 member States aims to boost the employability of workers, the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises, and the inclusiveness of economic growth. The ILO Secretariat in offices in 40 countries works with Ministries of Labour, employers’ organizations, and trade unions to integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies in order to better meet current labour market needs and to prepare for the jobs of the future; to expand access to employment-related training so that youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are better able to acquire skills and secure productive and decent work; and to improve the ability of public employment services to provide career guidance, maintain labour exchange services, and deliver active labour market programmes.For more information regarding the ILO’s work on skills and employability go to: http://www.ilo.org/skills/lang--en/index.htm; for ILO/Cinterfor's Knowledge Management Plarform, see: http://www.oitcinterfor.org
Access for all to good quality education, vocational training and workplace learning is a fundamental principle of social cohesion and economic growth. Some groups of people may require targeted attention if they are to benefit from education, training and employment opportunities.
This is particularly the case for disadvantaged youth, lower skilled workers, people with disabilities, and people in rural communities. The attractiveness of vocational education and training is enhanced when combined with entrepreneurship training and when public policies encourage utilization of higher skills by business.
Of an estimated 1 billion people with disabilities in the world today, some 785 million are of working age. While many are successfully employed and fully integrated into society, most face a disproportionate level of poverty and unemployment. This is a massive loss both to them and their countries. A strategy of including people with disabilities in training and employment promotion policies, combined with targeted supports to ensure their participation, can help disabled persons obtain productive mainstream employment.
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Working papers, reports, and other publications from international organizations, academic institutions and bilateral agencies. Research findings to stimulate informed debate on skills, employment and productivity issues.
This synthesis report arises from a technical cooperation project carried out in Malawi, South Africa and Zambia, 2004-06. This project aimed to carry out an exploratory assessment of skills acquisition strategies introduced in the participating countries through technical cooperation in recent decades, with a view to identifying effective strategies, and promoting effective training policies and programmes for disabled persons. The report starts with a brief overview of the countries’ socio-economic situation (Section 1) and their disability-related legislative and policy framework (Section 2). It then describes the approach taken in carrying out the studies in each country and presents the main findings of the surveys and case studies of people with disabilities who had different experiences of skills training and employment (Section 3). Following this, it summarizes the recommendations made following discussion of these study findings at tripartite-plus workshops in each of the countries in 2006 (Section 4) and steps planned to improve the training and employment opportunities for disabled people in the participating countries, arising from the studies and the consultative workshop.
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