On the eve of the National Day of Persons with Disabilities (October 10) the United Nations Development Programme in Kazakhstan and the Kazakhstani Confederation of Persons with Disabilities, with the support of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the British Embassy in Kazakhstan, will hold a round-table meeting devoted  to the problems of employment and job placement of persons with disabilities in the light of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  

Job placement of persons with disabilities remains one of the most pressing issues in Kazakhstan. As the experience shows, employers refuse to hire persons with disabilities because they believe that the latter will not be able to do their work or it will be too costly to employ them. This belief is founded on fears and stereotypes emphasizing a person’s disability rather than his/her capabilities. According to the RK Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population there are about 475,000 disabled persons of all categories in Kazakhstan, accounting for about 3% of its entire population. One third of them are of working age, though only about four thousand people with disabilities have a job.

In December 2008 Kazakhstan signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and is now striving to create an enabling environment for the disabled to get education and take a full-fledged part in all areas of economic, cultural and social life.

What needs to be done to ensure true integration of persons with disabilities into society? How can a synergy be created between state authorities, persons with disabilities, representatives of public entities, businesses and job centres in promoting vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities? What do persons with disabilities themselves think about this problem? These and other issues will be discussed during the round-table meeting, which will involve ministries and agencies concerned, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, international organizations and leaders of public associations of persons with disabilities from Almaty, Astana, Karaganda, Pavlodar, Aktobe and other regions.

Notes for Editors

Mass media are invited to take part in the round-table meeting, which will take place: on October 9, 2009, 9:30 am at the conference room (9th floor) of the RK Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population (entrance # 6).

For more details please contact Ms. Shynar Jetpissova, PR Coordinator (Shynar.jetpissova@undp.org), at +7 (7172) 592550 (ext. 2124) or Ms. Raisa Agibayeva, Kazakhstani Confederation of Persons with Disabilities, at +7(7172) 336083.

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