Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Malawi (Ratification: 1986)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee takes note of the detailed information provided by the Government in reply to its earlier comments. It would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply information on any new developments concerning the practical application of the national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons, including general information on the manner in which the Convention is applied (such as statistics, extracts from reports, studies and inquiries concerning the matters covered by the Convention), as requested under point V of the report form. Please supply a copy of the Statement of Development Policies 1987-96, as well as a booklet on the Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Programme for the Disabled Persons in Malawi, to which a reference was made in the report. Please also provide more detailed information on the proposals to review legislation relating to disabled persons referred to by the Government in its first and second reports. The Committee also asks the Government to provide additional information on the following points:

1. Article 3 of the Convention. The Government states that the vocational rehabilitation measures are made available to almost all categories of disabled persons, but there is still a limited intervention in the case of mentally handicapped persons due to limited expertise in this field. It also indicates that measures aimed at addressing the needs of this category of the disabled have recently been adopted by the Malawi Council for the Handicapped. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would describe these measures in more detail and asks the Government to continue to supply information on the progress made in the area of vocational rehabilitation of the mentally handicapped.

2. Article 7. The Committee notes from the Government's report that a special placement service for disabled persons has been established at the Ministry of Labour's Employment Bureau in Blantyre and that the Malawi Council for the Handicapped also has a placement service for disabled persons. Please indicate whether any other measures have been taken or are envisaged with a view to providing and evaluating vocational guidance, vocational training, placement, employment and other related services to enable disabled persons to secure, retain and advance in employment, in accordance with this Article. Please state whether existing services for workers generally are used with necessary adaptations.

3. The Committee notes with interest the information on technical assistance received by the Government from the UNDP and the ILO on the development of services for disabled people in Malawi, within the framework of projects MLW/84/005 and MLW/88/004. It also notes that the Government will continue to receive technical cooperation assistance in the coming UNDP/GOM 5th Country Programme 1992-96 and that it is envisaged to implement this programme as a nationally executed project. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to supply, in its future reports, information on any new developments in this sphere.