A/HRC/44/46
degrading working conditions, outside the formal economy and without an entitlement to
social security benefits.
15.
According to ILO, the deficit of decent work has a disproportionate impact on
already disadvantaged groups. As a consequence, the main policy for increasing productive
inclusion of the poorest is providing them with greater human capital. The principles and
guidelines recommend measures for the public and private sectors, such as employment
inducements in the regular employment market, support for cooperative work,
entrepreneurship and vocational education and training, reflecting provisions of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
16.
Article 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
states that it is both the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favourable working
conditions and to a decent living. In its general comment No. 23 (2016) on the right to just
and favourable conditions of work, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
called for States to raise awareness in the private sector and act affirmatively to mitigate the
disadvantaged positioning of some groups. According to the Committee, States should put
into place measures enabling education, information and awareness-raising, with a view to
ensuring equal work opportunities in both the private and public sectors. The Special
Rapporteur notes that such measures should be sensitive to gender, age, disability, illiteracy
and low education levels. The Committee also emphasized the responsibility of States to
establish non-contributory social security programmes for people working in the informal
sector, in order to guarantee them protection from hazards.
17.
Basic guidelines established by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities to promote job opportunities for persons with disabilities comprise nondiscrimination, accessibility, reasonable accommodation and affirmative measures. Article
27 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guides the public sector, in
collaboration with the private sector, to guarantee job opportunities, equal salaries, equality
in working conditions, career counselling opportunities and professional education,
entrepreneurship opportunities and vocational and professional rehabilitation programmes
to assist in returning to work. States are obligated to take measures to guarantee fully
accessible workplaces, removing any physical, behavioural, informational, communication
or transport barrier. Both the public and private sectors are expected to provide for
reasonable accommodation to workers who need it.4 Affirmative measures are to be taken
by the public sector and promoted in the private sector in order to increase the
employability of persons with disabilities.
18.
The guarantee of equal work opportunities for persons affected by leprosy and their
family members should be grounded on the guidelines provided by ILO and the provisions
set out in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. States should aim at an
inclusive economy that can ensure economic autonomy to persons affected and their family
members, encompassing the intersectionality of leprosy with age, gender and disability,
through training and formal employment opportunities. Guaranteeing equal work
opportunities can be ensured within mainstream and/or disability and programmes, as long
as due recognition is given to specific leprosy-related needs and the multiple barriers to
inclusion. Affirmative measures may be required in some contexts, in order to avoid this
specific population being left furthest behind in mainstream and disability programmes.
Affirmative measures should be temporary in principle, but in some cases, they may need
to be of a permanent nature. Reasonable accommodation, including workplace access
adaptation, adjustment of machines and equipment, but also of work content, time and work
organization, as well as availability of assistive devices, must always give due
consideration not only to visible physical impairments related to leprosy, but also invisible
ones, such as pain or loss of sensation, as well as psychosocial disabilities related to
4
Whereas accessibility is related to collectivities, reasonable accommodation is called for in relation to
individuals in inaccessible environments. Both concepts will be considered further below.
5
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