OSCE helps to promote employment for persons with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan’s civil service

The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek supported a roundtable discussion on the development of inclusive employment processes for persons with disabilities (PwD) in the state and municipal service in Bishkek on 6 September 2019.

According to the official statistics from the State Personnel Service under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, as of 2018 there were more than 180,000 PwD in Kyrgyzstan, or three per cent of the population, and only 103 of them were employed in the state service. It is important to note that the Kyrgyz Republic ratified the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in March 2019.

The roundtable discussion aimed at discussing ways to implement the CRPD and brought together over sixty representatives of state, civil society, including disabled persons’ organizations, and international organizations. It served as a platform to foster initiatives aimed at promoting and upholding labor rights and opportunities for PwD by creating inclusive labour conditions and opportunities at state and municipal agencies.

Identifying the needs of PwD is one of the priorities of the state agencies and one of the important steps to create working environments that reinforce their rights, including national legal and policy frameworks.

The Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, Ambassador Pierre von Arx, noted: “The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek remains a reliable partner of state bodies and civil society in the country. We welcome these steps that the country has taken since 2017 to implement electoral and labour rights of persons with disabilities in the Kyrgyz Republic. The OSCE will continue to support the efforts of Kyrgyz Republic to implement this important Convention.”