17 March 2020
On March 11, 2020 an extended session of the Standing Commission on Labour and Social Issues of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus was held. The meeting discussed proposals for the draft Law of the Republic of Belarus “On the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Their Social Integration,” which is preparing for consideration in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus in the first reading. The draft is being developed together with social partners and public organizations. In addition to representatives of interested national government bodies, the extended meeting of the commission was attended by representatives of public organizations (Society of the disabled, Associations of visually impaired, Society of the deaf, Association of helping children and young people with disabilities, Association of wheelchair users, Office for the rights of people with disabilities).
Importantly, the focus of legislation is shifting from a medical to a social factor: additional mechanisms for ensuring the right to work (SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth), measures to protect people with disabilities from discrimination (SDG 10 – Reducing inequalities), issues related to accessibility of parking, housing and the urban environment for people with disabilities (SDG 9 – Industrialization, Innovation and Infrastructure and SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements) and other issues.
The adoption of the law will contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and aims to include people with disabilities in the active life of society. At the session of the commission Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Rumak noted that it will bring the national legislation closer to the standards of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which the country acceded in 2016.
Nowadays 60% of people with disabilities have jobs in Belarus. Organizations established by public associations of people with disabilities, as well as other enterprises with 30% or more people with disabilities employed, have a number of benefits and advantages in the economic sphere. There are 572,000 persons with disabilities in Belarus.
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