Increasing employment of disabled people in Cambodia

Cambodia is seeking to push more resources to boost employment opportunities for disabled people, who currently make up fewer than 1% of the workforce in the country.

The efforts to do so are currently spearheaded by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, with Minister Heng Sour, speaking to local representatives of disabled people the day before about their plans.

Currently, only 3,776 disabled people are on record as employed in the public sector, while another 3,756 disabled employees work in the private sector. The total number of formally employed disabled people makes up 7,532 people in the entire country, a small percentage compared to the total number of disabled people in Cambodia, which is around 900,000. It makes up around 9% of the total working-age population, currently at 10.5 million. This also means that only 0.8% of disabled people are currently employed.

Sour called the number a significant deficit, as current legislation compels all public institutions to employ at least 3% of disabled people in each institution. This number is a voluntary measure for the private sector.

Katta Orn, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, said they are working hard to promote persons with disabilities to be employed. More organisations are encouraged to accept more disabled employees and improve the infrastructure of the workplace, as well as their facilities and amenities to accommodate them.

“The Ministry of Labour encourages people with disabilities to participate more in the labour sector. The employers should accept them to work and help facilitate the workplace so that people with disabilities can perform work just like people without any disabilities,” Orn said.

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He added that the ministry will continue to inspect premises and urge business owners to employ more disabled people, reported Khmer Times.