Consultancy to develop guidelines for operationalizing 5% reservation of positions in employment for persons with disabilities 75 views0 applications

Introduction

The Global Disability Fund/UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) is dedicated to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It brings together different UN entities, governments, persons with disabilities and civil society for the purpose of joint programming and partnerships. The GDF/UNPRPD Country Specific project in Kenya brings on board ILO, UNICEF and UNFPA to strengthen systems towards Disability Inclusive Policies, Programmes and Services. Funded from 2024, the project focuses on four key areas:

• Strengthening CRPD coordination and monitoring mechanisms
• Strengthening legal and policy environment to enhance disability inclusion
• Enhancing adoption of inclusive approaches to expand access to essential services in health (including SRHR), education and technical training, employment and economic empowerment practices and extension of social protection to all persons with disabilities.
• Promoting disability inclusion in mainstream national planning and particularly in humanitarian and emergency preparedness and in climate change adaptation.

The programme also aims at enhancing disability inclusive employment and business opportunities for persons with disabilities as it has been noted that there is limited access to employment opportunities and poor compliance with employment reservation policies which hinders economic empowerment of persons with disabilities. Promoting disability-inclusive workplaces and providing support for skills development are essential for enhancing employment prospects.

The Persons with Disabilities Act of 2003 provides incentives and affirmative action for the employment of persons with disabilities, by prescribing tax incentives for employers of persons with disabilities. In addition, section 13 requires that five percent of all casual, emergency, and contractual positions in employment in the public and private sectors be reserved for persons with disabilities. In efforts to enhance employment for persons with disabilities, the National Council for Persons with Disabilities has in place a Career Portal which is an inclusive online recruitment space for both employers and candidates with disabilities. The Career Portal provides a platform for both jobseekers and employees with disabilities and employers’ interface to address barriers to employment for persons with disabilities. It has significantly grown with onboarding happening in both the private and public sectors. However, the legal provision of the 5% reservation of employment is still yet to be achieved making it critical to build capacity of labour market actors on disability inclusion and develop guidelines to operationalize the 5% reservation.
It is in this regard that the ILO is seeking to contract an Individual Consultant to support the enhancing of capacity of tripartite partners and other stakeholders on disability inclusion at workplaces and develop guidelines for operationalizing the reservation of five percent of all casual, emergency and contractual positions in employment in the public and private sectors for persons with disabilities.

Objectives

To enhance capacity of ILO tripartite partners and key stakeholders on disability inclusion at the workplace
Guidelines for operationalizing the reservation of five percent of all casual, emergency and contractual positions in employment in the public and private sectors for persons with disabilities as per the Persons with Disabilities Act (2003) developed.

Scope

The Individual Consultant will conduct two trainings of two days each on disability inclusion at the workplace and enhancement of disability inclusive employment. Conduct pre and post training assessment to determine level of knowledge transfer.
Hold two Dialogue forums on Disability Inclusion of persons with disabilities in the labour market for identification of barriers and opportunities and develop a roadmap for operationalizing the 5% provision of employment.
Develop Guidelines for operationalizing the reservation of five percent of all casual, emergency and contractual positions in employment in the public and private sectors for persons with disabilities as per the Persons with Disabilities Act (2003).

Timeline

Q2 and Q3 of 2025.

Supervision

The Individual Consultant will work under the supervision of the ILO. Oversight and guidance will be provided by the Technical Working Group which will endorse outputs and deliverables.

Expected Outputs

The consultancy will be expected to deliver the following within 30 working days spread out in Q2 and Q3 of 2025.

1. Inception report aligned to the ToRs
2. Training Report to include the pre and post assessment questionnaires, training agenda
3. Reports of the dialogue forums on Disability Inclusion of persons with disabilities in the labour market for identification of barriers and opportunities and roadmap developed to operationalize the 5% provision
4. Draft Guidelines for operationalizing the 5% reservation on employment opportunities
5. Validated Final Guidelines incorporating inputs from ILO and TWG members

Qualifications

Required qualifications, desired competencies, technical background and experience
The Individual Consultant will be required to have the following experience and skills:

• Relevant advanced academic degree (Social sciences, development studies, economics or related fields);
• Demonstrated experience in working on Labour and Disability Inclusion
• Demonstrated experience in conducting capacity building initiatives on disability inclusion
• Specific experience on engagement in complex social and economic strategic and policy frameworks
• Experience working with governments, employers, workers, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities, Development Partners and the UN
• Ability to facilitate consultative/validation workshop towards consensus building
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English.