Pandemic exacerbates challenges for people with disabilities — JLW report

AMMAN — The Jordan Labour Watch (JLW) has called for “effective” measures to integrate people with disabilities into the labour market, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a report issued on Wednesday.

According to the report prepared by the JLW of the Phenix Centre for Economics & Informatics Studies on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which falls on December 3, the JLW said the pandemic has “deepened” the challenges that persons with disabilities are battling in the labour market.

The report emphasised that the employment rate of persons with disabilities in the public and private sectors is “modest”, which deprives many who are able and qualified to work “properly”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

A large number of persons with disabilities, who work in the private sector, still suffer from difficult working conditions, represented by the “poor quality of jobs”, the lower wage rates than the average and the absence of a sense of security and job stability, the report showed.

Weakness of the appropriate infrastructure for the work of persons with disabilities contributed to reducing their employment opportunities in terms of the lack of elevators, and appropriate public transportation, the JLW noted.

The report showcased that the majority of persons with disabilities are not covered by social protection systems such as social security and health insurance, Petra reported.

To address the flawed workplace, the report recommended the implementation of Article 25, Paragraph (E/F) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Law No. 20 of 2017 regarding the employment of persons with disabilities in a way that ensures its implementation on the ground.

The JLW urges activating roles of monitoring institutions related to the implementation of Article 13 of the Labour Law and Article 4 of the Persons with Disabilities Law to ensure strengthening public and private sector commitment related to their employment, Petra reported.