Reducing discrimination against the disabled

Roughly one in ten people in the world are disabled. Once a person is disabled, they can face substantial barriers in their communities and violations of their rights.

Few nations have anti-discrimination laws protecting the rights of disabled people. The United Nations Human Rights Declaration on Disability was developed in 1975, but has not ensured the protection of the rights of disabled people.

Laws are being introduced in North American and Australia that will force employers, institutions and transport systems and services to encourage disabled people to partake more fully in normal civilian life. The metro system in Washington, DC has already been overhauled due to lawsuits launched under the new laws. Article 15 of the European Social Charter (Revised) (Strasbourg 1996) provides: With a view to ensuring to persons with disabilities, irrespective of age and the nature and origin of their disabilities, the effective exercise of the right to independence, social integration and participation in the life of the community, the Parties undertake, in particular: 1) to take the necessary measures to provide persons with disabilities with guidance, education and vocational training in the framework of general schemes wherever possible or, where this is not possible, through specialised bodies, public or private; 2) to promote their access to employment through all measures tending to encourage employers to hire and keep in employment persons with disabilities in the ordinary working environment and to adjust the working conditions to the needs of the disabled or, where this is not possible by reason of the disability, by arranging for or creating sheltered employment according to the level of disability. In certain cases, such measures may require recourse to specialised placement and support services; 3) to promote their full social integration and participation in the life of the community in particular through measures, including technical aids, aiming to overcome barriers to communication and mobility and enabling access to transport, housing, cultural activities and leisure.