Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Kuwait (Ratification: 1998)

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. National policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to the 2005 direct request in its report supplied in October 2009, and the full documentation attached. The Government indicates that it provides persons with disabilities with vocational guidance and training which correspond to their capacities and needs. In 2007, a new centre was established for the welfare and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. The Government adds that the vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities is based on the following elements: appraisal, vocational guidance and preparation, vocational training and integration into the labour market, and the monitoring of graduates by training centres. The Committee takes note of the statistical data on the number of persons with disabilities who have received vocational training, distributed among the various vocational workshops established in training centres. The Committee notes with interest the “Charter of Hope for the Disabled 2009” adopted by the Kuwait Society for the Disabled and the National Association of Institutions Working in the Field of Disability, which enumerates the measures to be implemented in relation to social benefits, training and the integration of persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing in its next report practical and statistical information (disaggregated as much as possible by age, sex and the nature of the disability) on the measures adopted to promote the employment of persons with disabilities in both the public and private sectors. It also requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to ensure that effect is given to the Charter of Hope for the Disabled 2009.

Article 7. Services accessible to persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that measures are taken by the Civil Service Office responsible for recruitment in the public sector to assist with the integration of persons with disabilities; 1,124 persons with disabilities were selected by the Higher Council for Public Sector Recruitment with a view to their recruitment in the public sector. The Committee notes the 2007 paper on the measures taken to facilitate the mobility of persons with disabilities, particularly in public spaces, and the related safety standards. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing information on the various vocational guidance and training, placement, employment and other related services intended to enable persons with disabilities to secure, retain and advance in employment.

Article 5. Consultation of the social partners. The Government indicates that the Service for the Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities participates in the meetings of the commissions of the Higher Council on Disability Issues with a view to discussing issues related to training and the integration of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the “Charter of Hope for the Disabled 2009” recommends that the Higher Council on Disability Issues should include among its members representatives of all associations engaged in the field of disability. The Committee invites the Government to indicate the manner in which the representative organizations of workers, such as the Kuwait Trade Union Federation, also participate in the consultations required by the Convention.