This is a long document, but I believe it is of interest to many readers of these lists. Norman Coombs Chaire of EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) GLADNET has been provided with the joint statement of Rehabilitation International and Inclusion International on the occasion of the 86th Session of the ILO's International Labour Conference. This statement has also been placed on the GLADNET web site. JOINT STATEMENT Rehabilitation International and Inclusion International 86th Session of the International Labour Conference, 2-18 June, 1998, Geneva It is a privilege to present this Statement to you, the Delegates from the 174 ILO Member State Governments, Employers, and Trade Unions. We now thank the Officers of the Governing Body of the International Labour Office for the invitation to do so. We are pleased to present today on behalf of Rehabilitation International (RI) and Inclusion International (II), and also on behalf of other disability NGO colleagues working at the international level who have consultative status with United Nations ECOSOC. Over 500 million disabled people live, work, and aspire to work in all countries throughout the world. Our names are Susan Parker and Brendan Sutton. Susan is RI's Secretary General; Brendan is the Coordinator of Inclusion International's Employment Project. Both II and RI are international NGO's having Consultative Status with ECOSOC, WHO, UNICEF, and UNESCO, and consultation/cooperation with the ILO. Both organisations maintain official relations with inter-governmental regional organisations world-wide. RI operates from bases in New York, Brussels, and Hong Kong through 200 Member Organisations (who number 25 government ministries - including labour and social affairs - the remainder being national level NG0s). The number of persons estimated to receive services are upwards of 75 million. II operates from its base in Brussels with 173 Member Organisations who themselves contain 20,000 local associations who speak for 50 million people with mental handicaps and their families in 109 countries. II is a grass roots human rights organisation of families, self-advocates and community citizens dedicated to developing and protecting the rights of persons with mental handicaps (intellectual disability) to living lives in the mainstream of societies. RI's constituents are organisations of and for people with all types of disabilities who provide services of various types to disabled people of all ages and their families. The national level organisations and government ministries join together in a global federation to promote and implement activities that minimise the negative effects of impairments through rehabilitation and equalisation of opportunities. Importance of the ILO's General Survey on Convention 159 This Statement's theme reinforces the importance of the promotion and implementation by ILO Member States of Convention 159 (Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment - Disabled Persons), 59 States having so far ratified this 1983 convention. That, and its companion, Recommendation 168, are progressive in emphasising that organisations representing disabled persons shall be consulted. Accordingly, we welcome very much the ILO's decision to look at the national level effectiveness of this instrument after fifteen (15) years of implementation. We recognise the importance of the ILO's tripartite structure to stimulate the training and employment of disabled persons within all countries. Indeed, the ILO's national membership contains the keys to effectively promote training and employment of disabled persons through the use of rehabilitation tailored to the needs of the disabled person and the workplace's demand for specific skills. We well recognise that you, the ILO Delegates from this tripartite structure containing governments, employers, and trade unions, chose to allocate increasingly scare resources to the carrying out of this General Survey whose results have now provided valuable descriptions about disabled people's participation in vocational rehabilitation, the role of the NG0s at the national level, and even some trends about utilisation of service by disabled people. We extend our thanks to the Governing Body who chose to do its part to bring increased attention to disability at the all important level - the one of countries' themselves. Convention 159 and its accompanying Recommendation 168 remain vital cornerstones in the battle fought by disabled people and their families for basic human rights and equal opportunities. We affirm the principle of this Convention, namely, the recognition for affirmative action to ensure that all categories of disabled people have access to appropriate vocational rehabilitation measures and inclusive employment opportunities. We regret that relevant disability NG0s were not widely consulted in the exercise leading to the Report we discuss today, an opportunity lost. We recognise that such an omission is against the spirit and the content of the Convention which states in Article 5, "that representative organisations of and for disabled people shall be consulted". Hundreds of thousands of disabled people and their families in Africa and Asia live in remote areas, waiting for an opportunity to make ends meet. The link between unemployment and poverty for people with disabilities has been clearly established. The Survey Report is short on responses to their plea for equal opportunities (see paragraph 250 of the Report). Had disability NG0s been consulted, we guarantee that a wealth of information would have been made available to you. The Report does not consider the discrimination that disabled people face in countries where they work in sheltered employment situations, with no employment contracts, and are not given the opportunity of joining labour unions if they wish to do so. ILO Core Standards Convention No. 111, a core labour standard, deals with discrimination in respect to employment and occupation. Specifically, it defines discrimination aimed at persons on the basis of "race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin, which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation". Convention 111 does NOT include people with disabilities. We do recognise that Convention 111, 1, (a) came into effect in 1960. Paragraph Number 244 in the General Survey Report links Convention 111, article 1, (a) and Convention 159. Convention No. 159 concerns "Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Disabled Persons". Article 4 of Convention 159 states that the "..policy shall be based on the principle of equal opportunity between disabled workers and workers generally. Equality of opportunity and treatment for disabled men and women workers shall be respected. Special positive measures aimed at effective equality of opportunity and treatment between disabled workers and others workers shall not be regarded as discriminating against other workers". We trust that the Delegates to this 86th International Labour Conference will take great pride in the fact that two of the ILO's key conventions marry the principles of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and training of disabled people. As such, the ILO stands to significantly advance the exercising of disabled people's human rights through the inclusion of disability as one of the grounds for discrimination. We strongly recommend, on behalf of all International disability NG0s, that disability be added to the categories against which discrimination must not occur in Convention 111. This is a fundamental human rights priority for people with disabilities around the world. The ILO, NG0s, and Civil Society We see inclusive training and employment as a key path to full realisation of human rights. For many disabled people, inclusive training and employment remains an aspiration, not yet a reality. Recognising that the majority of people with mental handicaps (intellectual disabilities) in the world are not in contact with any training or employment programme and are invisible to society, it is recommended that such problems be addressed jointly by the ILO, Inclusion International, Rehabilitation International, the other NG0s, and Civil Society. Participation in work and the exercise of one's right to work and associate are fundamental. The ILO's role and ability to prohibit discrimination due to disability represents a cornerstone in the application of human rights rules to the betterment of Civil Society. As NGO's engaged in the advocacy for full expression of human rights, we are confident that the International Labour Conference will exercise its utmost effort to initiate the process leading to the inclusion of disabled people to the categories against which discrimination in training and employment must not occur. We stand ready to assist where ever possible. Respectfully submitted, Susan Parker Brendan Sutton Secretary General Coordinator - Inclusion International Rehabilitation International Inclusive Employment Project 5 June, 1998 Carl Raskin Executive Director Global Applied Disability Research and Information Network GLADNET [log in to unmask] tel: 613 825 6193 fax: 613 825 2953 visit GLADNET's web site at: http://www.gladnet.org