The meeting brought together stakeholders in the Kenyan labour sector. It sought to address some of the gaps and challenges hindering employment of persons with disabilities, despite many laws in place championing the rights of persons with disabilities.
The stakeholders present were the Ministry of Labour, State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC), Public Service Commission(PSC), Teachers Service Commission, Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU), National Gender and Equality Commission, Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), National Industrial Training Authority (NITA), Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), National Employment Authority (NEA) and Judiciary.
The Chief Guest Dr. William Kiprono EBS – Secretary Administration for Labour in the Ministry of Labour representing Principal Secretary Eng. Peter Tum, asserted the government’s commitment in protecting and promoting the access to job opportunities for all.
Hon. Gideon Koske – MP for Chepalung’u Constituency and Vice-Chairperson of the Labour and Social Welfare Committee at the National Assembly noted that challenges abound in PWDs taking advantage of economic opportunities availed to them e.g. penetration of unscrupulous persons into the AGPO opportunities availed to PWDs.
He called for enactment of progressive legislations in Parliament to provide for specific employment quotas for persons with disabilities, noting that the legal threshold of 5 percent was still minimal compared to the huge disability population in the country (approximately six million going by WHO prevalence rate).
Lack of proper data on disability was recognised as a challenge, with KNBS stating that proposals are ongoing to conduct a national disability survey that will provide a clear picture on issues such as labour status of persons with disabilities.
Council led by Chairperson Peter Muchiri and Executive Director Harun Hassan appreciated the stakeholders present for the efforts they’ve made in promoting #DisabilityInclusion in the workplace.
They also called on them to partner in laying down tangible commitments and actions that will make the “an equal opportunity employer” tag a reality for PWDs.
Lady Justice Monica Mbaaru of the Employment and Labour Relations Court called on the Council to partner with other stakeholders in developing collective bargaining agreements on disability inclusion, and also rallied for unionization of disabled persons organisations to give them a strong voice at the negotiating table.
The forum culminated in the formation of key action areas, which groups present will partner in addressing, in the areas of skills development, awareness creation for employers and persons with disabilities, enforcement of disability legislations, identifying best practices etc.
