Disability employment in Georgia: it’s time for more action

Finding a job these days is a challenge for everyone, let alone a person with a disability. 

Nona Gudulidze, a 50-year-old nurse from Ambrolauri,  was  lucky. She got her job after  a new multifunctional center of social inclusion opened in her hometown with support from the United Nations Fund for Sustainable Development Goals (Joint SDG Fund).

Her life changed forever when a 2020 car accident left her in a wheelchair. Living in Georgia’s mountainous Racha region, she never imagined that she would be able to find work.

“I get to feel accomplished again and this way also help drive change for myself and for others!”  says Nona taking up duties as the facility’s new librarian.

Unfortunately, for the overwhelming majority of 126,002 persons registered as people with disabilities in Georgia, finding any job at all seems all but impossible.

“Employment of persons with disabilities is a rather exception than a rule in Georgia. According to the 2022 UNPRPD situational Analysis, there had been 53 persons with disabilities employed in the public sector, out of whom only 37 percent were women,”  says Esma Gumberidze, a visually impaired human rights activist, a citizen journalist and a blogger.

According to Esma, there are programs subsidizing the salary for newly employed persons with disabilities, where the Ministry of Health funds up to a half of the salary for the duration of few months, however the acceptance of persons with disabilities as of employees is so low, the environment often is so inaccessible that these programs benefit only few persons with disabilities.

“There is no quota system, where large employers would be obligated to hire certain percentage of persons with disabilities: a measure that proved being effective in ensuring more persons with disabilities are employed on the open market. Social enterprises also are struggling, as they are forced to pay taxes at a commercial rate, which makes it harder for them to remain sustainable,” she notes.

A lack of basic services, accessible public infrastructure, widespread stigma and prejudice,  and barriers to inclusive education aggravate the problem.

On a positive note, the social inclusion centers established in three regions of Georgia, including in  Ambrolauri with support from the UN’s Joint SDG Fund, undoubtedly respond to the needs of one of the most vulnerable groups in Georgia. They provide adult persons with disabilities with space for professional skills development, equal employment opportunities and social activities.

In addition, the UN’s Joint SDG Fund-backed Joint Program for Transforming Social Protection for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) provided trainings in 17 municipalities to persons with disabilities in vulnerable employment situations to help them gain employment skills and generate new revenue streams. Training modules for private sector employers on obligations on the rights of PwDs, including employment, reasonable accommodation and accessibility as well as  recommendations on the establishment of protected and accessible working places for persons with disabilities were also developed.

“The Labor Code of Georgia, as well as the Law on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination have been amended and now include provision, which defines denial of reasonable accommodation as a form of discrimination,” points out Esma Gumberidze, noting that this will allow persons with disabilities, who were denied employment due to the inaccessibility of the working environment to complain against a potential employer.

There is still a long way to go before disabled people are treated equitably in the labor market and have access to the work they want. But it must happen in order to help persons with disabilities gain a much-awaited chance to reclaim their professional and social lives that most in society take for granted.

With USD 2 million received from the Joint SDG Fund and under overall coordination of UN RC Office in Georgia, the Joint Programme involved collaboration between UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women, WHO, and OHCHR, as well as the Government, civil society and organizations of people with disabilities.