Disability Employment Strategy in Afghanistan

Disability profile

The transitional administration in Afghanistan is ending its term in office this summer and a democratically elected government will mark a new era in the Afghan political scene. This will hopefully allow a more stable and steady development process to take place. The current government made every effort to promote comprehensive development process where all sections of society especially minority groups are included. However, despite these efforts, disabled people, especially rural disabled, women and children were left out of national programs as priority issues. The majority of these disabled people continue to live in poverty and deprivation.

Currently, there are few provisions made available for disabled Afghans to help their social and economic integration. Physical and attitudinal barriers prevent many disabled people from receiving various services and further restrict their access to information and education. Instead of creating enabling conditions for empowerment, existing barriers - including policies and practices - often create a hindrance towards the inclusion of disabled people into mainstream society.

Together, this perpetuates the passivity of disabled people and leads to their marginalization and exclusion. The lack of employment options and other sources of income are severely hindering disabled people's independent life and restrict their choices and chances, thus leading to a low quality of life.

Disabled Afghans and the labor market

A recent survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MLSA) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has found very high level of unemployment among disabled people estimated at 84%. The same study has found that most services for the disabled population are mainly centered in big cities, especially in Kabul region. Overall, there were limited vocational training options for disabled people and only NGO's were active in employing disabled people. There were however individual cases of self-employment projects run by disabled people.

The working group on employment on the other hand, has carried out an investigation into the employment of disabled people for the purpose of policy development under the Task Force on Disability [1]. They have found out that the majority of disabled people are out of the workforce and that they often lack the skills and the confidence to access the labor market.

In February 2003, a major consultation exercise into the needs and priorities of disability sector under the auspice of Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled (MMD) and the United Nations was organized. During the two day meeting, stakeholders were in active discussion with the disabled community on the priorities of the disabled community, gaps and barriers confronting disability sector in Afghanistan, and the way forward for the development of this sector in a manner that meets disabled people's expectations.

Partners identified priority needs for interventions including the need to support disabled people's organizations and groups, the need for capacity building of MMD to become lead agency on disability, the needs for education and higher education, the need for training and vocational training, the need for employment, the need for accessibility, the need for physical rehab, the need for psycho-social rehab for traumatized people, the need for information and legislation and the need for various kinds of research. Most of the above identified needs are in line with those listed in the Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier Free and Rights Based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (BMF).

A mapping tool for service providers shows that physical disability is relatively better served than other disabilities and that service concentrates in the centre city of the regions. This leaves many provinces especially in central, eastern and southern zones without services. Overall, rural disabled people continue to be severely excluded from all kinds of disability support. People with invisible disability had better integration records compared with their visibly disabled counterparts.

Meeting the above needs will directly or indirectly improve the employability situation of all disabled people. This includes not only war disabled as it is often the case in Afghanistan, but also deaf people, blind people, those with psychiatric disabilities, those with mental 'retardation', those with learning disability, and those with multiple disabilities. Currently, employment and vocational training appeared to be weak and insufficient and therefore needing to be strengthened. The provision of an effective information system for disabled people will help meeting their needs and protecting their rights.

Government strategy

The government of Afghanistan has assigned the responsibility of employing disabled people to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. MLSA attempts to address this nationwide problem by developing internal regulations for the employment of disabled people. In their internal regulations for example, MLSA has recently emphasized the need for the vocational training of all disabled people as well as their need for welfare benefits and employment. Historically, MLSA has also addressed the issue of employment for disabled people, but only concerning war victims. The long years of war with large numbers of war veterans have necessitated special provisions for war disabled. People with other types of disabilities were as a result often excluded.

The Comprehensive National Disability Policy (2003) has developed specific guidelines for training and employment of disabled people. The policy emphasized the equal right of disabled people to decent work based on their abilities. Some disabled people however, may require rehabilitation services including assistive devices, vocational training or job modifications. These should be accessible to all people without discrimination. All employment support initiatives for persons with disabilities must respond to a genuine market need. Disabled women, who face compounded challenges in relation to mobility and other social issues, require specific vocational rehabilitation and employment policy strategies, in line with general government policy commitments to raise the social status and improve the living conditions of women in Afghanistan.

Despite this policy, little progress has been made regarding the employment of disabled people in Afghanistan. An employment strategy with roles and responsibility of each party is still missing. The absence of an employment strategy in Afghanistan meant that, standard employment support identified in the United Nations' Standard Rules for the inclusion of disabled people was ineffective if existing at all. Employment guidance and direct job placement, employment creation, vocational training, small business development, rural employment, well-equipped, safe and productive workplaces, and discrimination research were all missing in fact.

Future challenge

The two major problems confronting disabled people and limiting their economic inclusion in Afghanistan are lack of skills together with an inaccessible environment. Training and vocational training are necessary requirements for skills development. Accessibility however, is prerequisite for all indoor or outdoor activities. Accessibility means more than just the built environment. It means accessible working place, accessible employer/peer attitudes and accessible communication system for all kind of disabilities.

Currently, the employment of disabled people lies within three different ministries. The Ministry of Public Health assesses the degree of disability and the ability of a given person to work. MLSA holds overall responsibility for provision of employment guidance and direct job placement, but there are no working mechanisms at MLSA to realize such responsibility. The Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled identifies training needs for disabled people and raising awareness of disability issues. However, coordination between all three ministries is not effective and this leaves many job seekers out of proper employment support services. At the moment, there is no lead agency where disabled people could obtain employment referral information or related advice.

A participatory strategy is needed to highlight and address this inequality in the employment of disabled people. At the macro level, the strategy must address the power relations within the development process towards disability being considered as a cross-cutting issue in all governmental programming. The strategy will therefore focus on identifying barriers that prevent disabled people access to employment and propose ways to increase labor participation. In so doing, the strategy will promote the acceptance of disabled people's rights to full participation.

A working strategy must provide specific guidelines for key actions with time frame and roles assigned to partners. Disabled people organizations and the National Disability Commission, together with MSAL, MMD, and other line ministries have central role to play in the implementation and monitoring of this strategy. Hence, the strategy will c reate conditions to broaden the range of employment and economic development options for disabled people in order to narrow the income gap between non-disabled and disabled people. This should include early return-to-work programs as well as sheltered employment and public, self and private options of employment. A positive action in favor of employing disabled people may also be put in place to address equity concerns and that positively discriminate in favor of disabled people in order to build the representation of disabled people in the workforce.

References

BMF (2003) Biwako Millennium Framework for Action Towards an Inclusive, Barries Free and Rights Based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (BMF). United Nations Economic and Social Council, Otsu City, Shiga, Japan.

Kasnitz, D. (2001), 'Life Event Histories and the US Independent Living Movement', in M. Priestley (ed.), Disability and Life Course: Global Perspectives, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 67-78.

MLSA (2003) Internal Regulations for National Employment. Kabul: Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

MMD (2003) The Comprehensive National Disability Policy. URL: www.disabilityafghanistan.org

Oliver, M. & Barnes, C. 1998. Disabled people and Social Policy: From Exclusion to Inclusion. London: Longman.

UN (1994) The Standard Rules on Equalization of opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. NY, UN.

Wardak, A, Faiz IM, and Turmusani, M (2003) Disability policy development in Afghanistan: towards barriers free society. UNESCAP, Bangkok.

Notes

[1] The Task Force on Disability has set up various working groups on education, rehabilitation, employment, and others. These working groups conducted small scale disability research for the purpose of policy development. Findings were used in the Comprehensive National Disability Policy in Afghanistan completed in November 2003.

 printer-friendly format