Tunis plays host to seminar on right of people with disabilities to employment

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Tunisia – A two-day seminar on the theme of "The right of people with disabilities to employment", organised by the Arab Centre for Labour Administration and Employment in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Arab Labour Organisation started Wednesday in Tunis.

The aim of the seminar is to shed light on the right of persons with disabilities to employment, to learn about developments in national, Arab and international legislation in this field, and to explore ways of strengthening the protection of persons with disabilities, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Yassine Azeza, Advisor to the Minister of Social Affairs, said in a speech delivered on behalf Minister of Social Affairs, Malek Zahi that Tunisia has fulfilled its international commitments in the field of work for people with disabilities after ratifying several conventions in this field and participating in the implementation of the Second Arab Decade of Disabled Persons.

He pointed out that Tunisia had opted for a global approach to the promotion of persons with disabilities, based on the principle of human rights and international law, and had developed programmes and mechanisms for the economic and social integration of this category of persons.

Fayez Ali Al-Mutairi, Director General of the Arab Labour Organisation, said that the inclusion of persons with disabilities was at the core of his organisation's interests and reiterated the importance of establishing joint action programmes at the Arab level to promote all social groups and in particular persons with disabilities.

He welcomed the organisation by Tunisia, in cooperation with the League of Arab States, of this high-level seminar on the implementation of the Second Arab Decade for Disabled Persons. Al-Mutairi described the seminar as an ideal opportunity to discuss the social conditions of this category of people and to unify Arab action in this field, reiterating the willingness of the Arab Labour Organisation to support Tunisia in the social field.