International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Breaking the barriers for inclusive world of work in Indonesia
A greater involvement of people with disabilities to policy making processes on inclusivity and a wider access to employment are needed to promote inclusivity and equity at workplace.
12 December 2024
JAKARTA, Indonesia (ILO News) - In conjunction with the commemoration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the ILO in collaboration with United Nations Indonesia’s Information Centre (UNIC), Bumilangit Entertainment and UN Association Indonesia (UNAI) conducted an interactive discussion titled “Breaking the Barriers: Promoting Inclusive World of Work in Indonesia” on 7 December. The discussion was part of the three-day event under the theme “Inclusion for All, Disability Empowered”, presenting a series of activities such as a film screening, an exhibition and talkshows.
The interactive discussion was held at Sjumandjaja Kine Forum, Taman Ismail Marzuki, presenting three speakers who shared their expertise and experiences in inclusivity and equality: Dina Novita Sari, ILO’s programme officer for equality and inclusivity, Ages Soerjana, Counsellor of Talent School of Yayasan Peduli Anak Spesial (YPAS), a foundation for special children, Dimas P. Muharam, Initiator of Inclusive Civil Servant Forum and CEO PT Dimaster Education.
With only 3 in 10 people with disabilities active in the labour market, most people with disabilities tend towards self-employment. As a result, their overall labour market participation rate is very low and progress towards greater inclusion has been relatively slow.
Dina Novita Sari, ILO’s programme officer for equality and inclusivity
The discussion was opened with a brief presentation on the ILO’s latest working paper titled “A study on employment and wage outcomes of people with disabilities.” The paper, which includes new data, finds that those with disabilities who are working are paid 12 per cent less per hour than other employees, on average. However, in low and lower middle-income countries this disability wage gap is much larger, at 26 per cent, and almost half cannot be explained by socio-demographic differences.
“It is estimated that 1.3 billion people, or nearly one-in-six of the global population, experience significant disability. With only 3 in 10 people with disabilities active in the labour market, most people with disabilities tend towards self-employment. As a result, their overall labour market participation rate is very low and progress towards greater inclusion has been relatively slow,” explained ILO’s Programme Officer Dina, quoted the key findings of the paper.
She concluded with a number of measures to improve the labour market participation of individuals with disabilities, including making online recruitment and related processes more accessible, greater support for employers to encourage the hiring of persons with disabilities and supporting employees with disabilities with appropriate adaptation measures to facilitate their work.
Meanwhile, as a counsellor of a foundation for special children, Ages Soerjana explained about invisible and hidden disabilities, particularly related to learning disabilities. For many, neuro diversity, which includes learning disabilities are still considered as a new concept such as attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia and Dysgraphia.
“People with learning disabilities look like any other people, yet they may struggle as much as people with obvious disabilities. They have good education, talent and skills; however, for example people with ADD, they have difficulty paying attention and staying in task. It means that workers with ADD need to have clear instructions in writing or with visual,” she explained.
we need to continue raising the awareness about these hidden disabilities and mapping their competencies and capabilities to be connected with the demands of the companies. They have the working skills, they only need opportunities and our awareness on how to support them reaching their potentials.
Ages Soerjana, Counsellor of Talent School of Yayasan Peduli Anak Spesial (YPAS), a foundation for special children
As a result, Ages added, despite their high education background, the majority of students with learning disabilities still face challenges in finding jobs after graduating from the university. “Thus, we need to continue raising the awareness about these hidden disabilities and mapping their competencies and capabilities to be connected with the demands of the companies. They have the working skills, they only need opportunities and our awareness on how to support them reaching their potentials.”
Understanding various challenges faced by people with disabilities, Dimas shared his struggle finding jobs after graduating from one of the ivy league universities in the country. Refused to give up, he co-founded Kartunet, a platform aimed at empowering visually impaired persons through technology and digital literacy. When the government began its inclusive programme by opening access for persons with disabilities to become a civil servant in 2017, Dimas was accepted as a junior researcher at the Centre for Assessment and Learning of the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2018.
I founded the Inclusive Civil Servant Forum in 2019 and now the forum’s members have reached more than 200 civil servants with and without disabilities who share the same vision to create an inclusive workplace and to promote inclusion in policies of the public sector from the inside.
Dimas P. Muharam, Initiator of Inclusive Civil Servant Forum and CEO PT Dimaster Education
Since then, he has been active to make changes and promote inclusion within the governmental institutions. “I founded the Inclusive Civil Servant Forum in 2019 and now the forum’s members have reached more than 200 civil servants with and without disabilities who share the same vision to create an inclusive workplace and to promote inclusion in policies of the public sector from the inside,” he remarked.
He also reminded the urgent need for a greater involvement of people with disabilities in policy making processes, more opportunity for capacity building in both hard and soft skills and more scholarships for higher education.
The ILO through programmes has worked for over 50 years to promote skills development and employment opportunities for people with disabilities based on the principles of equal opportunity, equal treatment, mainstreaming into vocational rehabilitation.