Workability International Conference
PHOTO: Yosakoi Soran Festival Dancers entertain delegates at the Workability International Conference. The theme of the Conference this year was “I work, I live” – with the awareness that there were around 600 million people with disabilities around the world who are in need of employment opportunities. The Conference was opened by Toru Toida, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, who spoke about the promotion of a ‘barrier free society’ and the fact that the UN Convention on people with disabilities was adopted by the Japanese Parliament in 2007. This Convention, known as C159, referred to people with disabilities securing, retaining and advancing in suitable employment and therefore enabling better integration into mainstream society. One of the opening presentations was on the employment situation of people with disabilities in Japan. Presented by Masaya Aashi from the Japan Society of Vocational Rehabilitation, mention was made of the Japanese Constitution which referred, in Article 27, to the right and obligation to work – all people shall have the right and the obligation to work. The issue addressed in this presentation, and further developed during the Conference, was to the notion of ‘decent work’ as identified by the International Labor Organization (ILO). The question posed was ‘what is decent work?’ Was there too much emphasis on the ‘quantity’ of work rather than the ‘quality’ of work performed? The emphasis in Japan was to see people with disabilities in employment as ‘employees’ rather than ‘welfare service users’. An interesting statistic was that there was 5.7% of the population with a disability or 724,000 people. They were further defined as 303,000 with psychiatric disabilities; 366,000 with physical disabilities and only 55,000 people with an intellectual disability. One of the most inspiring presentations was made by Satoshi Fukushima, Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo at the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology. He lost his sight at 9 and his hearing at 18 and became totally deaf-blind. He is the first deaf-blind person to graduate from a Japanese University. His talk was around the theme that the first and most important task for a person with a disability was ‘to live’ and the second most important task was to ‘live a richer life’. Professor Fukushima went on to say that it is generally regarded in society that the purpose of a job is for a person to become a ‘taxpayer’, which he went on to say ‘didn’t necessarily make a person feel either valued or respected by society’. In his opinion, people with disabilities want a job for the value of being a ‘worker’, not to pay tax! People want work to sustain life. He then went on to expand on his theme of ‘what does work mean?’ He identified three concepts: • Work is to survive – to live. A job provides answers for people with disabilities to ‘why are we here? And why do we live? • Work enables a person with a disability to ‘live a better life’ – albeit with difficulties and suffering. Living a better life is a theme adopted by a number of organisations around the world. Living a better life enables communication, information and mobility within society. • Work enables people with disabilities to support each other - to offer mutual social support.
Professor Fukushima concluded his talk with his view that a ‘richer, better life’ meant that people with disabilities should be encouraged to take risks. He didn’t like the concept of a social safety net, which he felt was an overworked expression that enables society to avoid the necessity of people with disabilities facing the ‘dignity of risk’. He didn’t like the concept of a life where people were afraid to fall. Any reference to a safety net should, he believed, be regarded as a bridge or a platform and that everyone should be able to cross the bridge at their own speed. Barbara Murray, a Senior Disability Specialist with the ILO, Skills and Employability Department, in Geneva followed with a presentation on ‘Decent work and current labour issues faced by people with disabilities. The key role of her work is the development of the ILO Code of Practice on managing disability in the workplace (adopted by the ILO in 2001) and promoting the ratification and implementation of ILO Convention 159 on the rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons. She also spoke on the concept of ‘decent work’. Ms Murray noted that 32 countries had ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She added that so far 32 countries had ratified the Convention (Australia ratified the convention in July 2008). By ratifying the Convention, all countries will be required to commit to the provision of ‘decent work’ which is the ILOs primary goal for everyone, into practice by promoting employment opportunities for people with disabilities. One of the questions she posed was to determine how to ensure that skills’ training for people with disabilities was in line with the requirements of the labor market and meets recognised occupational standards. She also identified the issue of accessibility, both in terms of physical access, access to transport and access to information, as important in enabling people with disabilities to be equal participants in the workforce. In conclusion, Ms Murray identified the need for all levels of society to be aware of the working capacity of people with disabilities. Tim Pape, founder of the Shaw Trust in the United Kingdom, further developed the theme of ‘decent work’ for people with disabilities. His view was that people with disabilities who can work should be streamed into the open labour market. He called this the ‘work first’ approach. This was further presented as work for those who can and benefits (welfare) for those who need it. He made the point that society shouldn’t have a system that traps people on benefits, adding that people with disabilities would be better off in work. However, having made these points, he also pointed out that there needed to be incentives and buy-ins for employers for them to be fully engaged. Tim Pape’s talk was received without comment, although fairly controversial. At least he acknowledged that there was a need for specialist services for those with higher support needs (ie business services) but he made the point that these services should not be the final destination for people with disabilities. Other presentations were made by a variety of services including Robyn Klos from the Gracelands Group in New Zealand, who presented on the situation in Australia and New Zealand; Deborah Wan from the New Life Psychiatric rehabilitation Association of Hong Kong, China who spoke on the development of social enterprises; Ian Beker from Southland Enterprises, New Zealand, presented on the specific services his organisation offered people with disabilities (including a recycling enterprise and a work enclave); George Marshall from HVO Inc spoke about a collaborative relationship that his organisation led involving 14 unique and independent NFPs. They combined to form a company that manufacture customer medical products with a turnover of around $5 million and employing 255 people with disabilities; Johnny Lantion from the National Federation of Cooperatives of Persons with Disabilities in the Philippines spoke about the manufacture of chairs and other items by the cooperative and the decision by the Philippines government to legislate that 10% of government purchases would come from coops for people with disabilities. |
