In the 10 months of the war in 2022, more than 45 thousand Ukrainians were disabled, while in 2021 the rate of disability was 3.5 times slower.
“In the pre-war year, 13 thousand people received disability. During the first 10 months of the war in 2022, according to official and not very adequate statistics, more than 45 thousand Ukrainians received disabilities. The number of people who received a disability last year is much higher, because it is difficult to obtain disability status during the war“, - reported Valeriy Sushkevych, chairman of the National Assembly of People with Disabilities of Ukraine, at the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine event.
According to Sushkevych, Disability among the population of Ukraine over the past 16 months - from the beginning of the war to mid-2023 - has been extremely high, and it is becoming a critical problem for society.
“Many state institutions and social actors do not understand the enormous potential that people with disabilities have,‘ Sushkevych added.
According to Olena Stepanenko, an expert of the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine, about 70-80% people with disabilities are able to work fully on an equal footing with others, The vast majority of such people do not have any external signs of disability, she noted. At the same time, in 53% cases, people with disabilities can work in a regular workplace.
According to the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine, 0.8-1.0 million additional people with disabilities can become active participants in the labor market.
According to Oleksiy Miroshnychenko, President of the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine, a practical guide for employers on employment of people with disabilities is currently being developed - This is the first guidebook to cover all aspects of labor market inclusion of people with disabilities. The full version of the guide will be presented in September and will be updated digitally on a regular basis.
According to Miroshnychenko, the number of jobs for people with disabilities will increase if state-owned and municipal employers also take on the obligation to hire this category of unemployed.
“It is necessary to equalize approaches to enterprises of different forms of ownership. The private sector bears full responsibility for the employment of people with disabilities, while the public sector is exempt from the obligation to meet the employment standard and the need to pay administrative and economic sanctions only because they are financed from the state budget. We need all forms of ownership to be equal,‘ he emphasized.
Source: https://biz.censor.net/n3428120
Illustrative photo: dialog.ua
