Helen Assaf
A disabled woman needed to collect some official
papers from the Health Ministry to enable her to have a
certain operation performed. When handed the papers to
fill in, she noticed that some of the details had already
been provided. Under the section 'employment' it said in
Arabic: muaaq (handicapped).
That disability is not a handicap to employment is a
lesson in progress in Lebanon. There is a law that seeks
to promote equal employment opportunities for the
disabled while also assuring the basic rights of people
with disabilities: Law 220 was passed in 2000, and among
its 102 acts, it sets a quota for the percentage of a
business' staff that should be recruited from people with
disabilities. Failure to meet the quota results in
financial penalties. "When law 220 came we were very
happy as it assured our rights of inclusion, defined
disability and who benefits from this law and it was very
clear that all people with disabilities should be equally
benefiting from this law," says Sylvana Lakkis,
chairperson of the Lebanese Physically Handicapped Union
(LPHU), who described the efforts prior to the passage of
the law as a "long struggle."
Prior to the law's passage, Lakkis says that if people
with disabilities wanted to find a job, the system in
place - requiring a certificate of health - was a
discriminatory one that prevented, rather than promoted
employment for the disabled. This culture of exclusion
would begin with the education system, which required a
person with disability to submit an application if they
wanted to attend a regular school. "So as a result of
these attitudes, the majority of Lebanese society grew up
with the idea that anything to do with the disabled has
to be separate - that they are different from others,"
says Lakkis.
The statistics certainly paint a gloomy picture.
According to an International Labour Organization report,
in 2006, out of the 27,086 people with disability and
capable of working, only 7,052 people were employed. This
effectively points to a possible unemployment rate among
people with disabilities of 74 percent. The report says:
"This proportion is weak mainly because the relevant
labour legislation is not applied and the employer
assumes that persons with disability are unable to work.
For Lebanese people with disabilities, access to
education and vocational training is limited, the support
required is unavailable, and there is little or no
infrastructure for physical access to the workplace."
Three years ago charities such as Oxfam Quebec,
Christian Aid and Oxfam UK among others helped LPHU to
open a job center in Bar Elias in the Bekaa Valley. "It
was very challenging to open it there because we wanted
to go where people had less opportunities," says Lakkis.
A smaller office is located in Beirut but is still in its
early stages. The job center carries out a variety of
projects, including raising awareness, providing
technical support to employers when it comes to
modification of the workplace, and a capacity-building
program targeting employers to support them and empower
them in entering diversity management. The latter,
according to Lakkis, is a must for companies to know, not
only in reference to disability, "but if they want to
become one of the leading companies of the future they
should learn how to manage diversity at work."
Lakkis says that employers often have misconceptions
about workers with disability so are surprised when
presented with international experience and reports that
prove that disabled people tend to have better work
attendance, don't get sick as often as able-bodied people
and take fewer holidays, as they want to prove
themselves. In addition, most people with disabilities
don't require the workplace to be specially adapted for
them and even when they do, it is often much less costly
than imagined. "A media campaign would cost a company
much more than adaptation of the workplace and they
should look at it this way: if you want to win more
customers you have to have your place for all," Lakkis
said.
Since the launch of the employment office, which also
offers a matchmaking service to jobseekers with
disabilities and potential employers, more than 80 people
with disabilities have found employment through it. "As a
result of our experience with the private sector they are
very supportive; once you provide facts and technical
support, they have no problem ... they want benefits and
there are benefits to employing disabled people," says
Lakkis.
The private sector definitely plays a key role in
setting examples that can be replicated by others. "At
Deloitte in Lebanon and the Middle East, we strongly
believe that we have an important role in demonstrating
corporate citizenship through active involvement in
policy and economic development, skills training and
educational programs, and other philanthropic and
community relations activities," says Rana Ghandour
Salhab, partner at Deloitte ME. "Diversity in all its
forms, inclusion and supporting the basic rights of
people with disability are some of the areas we consider
as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility program.
We are active with a number of centers for children with
Special Needs across the region, and have just become a
sponsor of the Special Olympics programs in Lebanon and
the MENA region."
While the private sector, NGOs and charities have been
making some progress when it comes to inclusion, law 220
has not proven to be the catalyst for change that it was
designed to be - at least not yet. The quota and penalty
system is not being implemented across board, a fact that
Lakkis attributes to lack of planning prior to its
passage and the absence of mechanisms within the law to
enforce its implementation. She cites the fact that the
executive body of each ministry responsible for
implementing each part of the law has not been set up
yet, nor is there even one person who acts as a reference
point or that is in charge of receiving penalty
payment.
Meanwhile, in a country as conflict ridden as Lebanon,
the numbers of people with disability continue to rise.
At the end of the July war, government estimates placed
the number of wounded at more than 4,000, around 500 of
whom will remain permanently disabled. At least another
209 civilians have been wounded by mines/unexploded
ordinance since then. Like every other person with
disability, they will no doubt be hoping their right to
inclusion in society will be actively protected rather
than sadly neglected.
Source
www.dailystar.com.lb
