Disability Seminar - implementation of employment strategies for people with disabilities, North and South
17 Nov 2016
17 November 2016 - 18 November 2016
Congress hosted our annual disability seminar in La Mon House Hotel, outside Belfast on 17/18 November. Pics available on our Flickr
Themed around implementation of employment strategies for people with disabilities, North and Sount, delegates heard a variety of inputs including an introduction from Brian Campfield, Congress President.
"Decent work means work that is productive and delivers a fair income" ICTU President Brian Campfield told delegates, "however for the millions of disabled people of working age worldwide, achieving decent work is getting more and more challenging.
This is why the role of trade unions and the Disability Champion in the workplace is more important than ever."
Delegates also heard updates from speakers on the implementation of employment strategies North and South and good practice examples from across the island.
In relation to the responsibilities for employment under the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD), delegates urged the Irish Government to follow up on their commitment to ratify the UNCRPD before the end of year. The seminar was also disturbed by the recent report from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which has highlighted grave violations of the UNCRPD by the UK government.
Una Wilson from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland - here;
Marion Wilkinson, National Disability Authority - here;
Walter Jaywardene, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC);
Catherine Christy, Belfast City Council - here;
Terry Parks, Department for Communities here;
Colm Caughey, N.Irl Human Rights Commission spoke to us about the report from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which has highlighted grave violations of the UNCRPD by the UK government.;
Sean Fitzsimons, Tommy Cairns and Terry Patterson, from Disabilty Action
Adam Harris, AsIam.presentation here
Happy to also have a number of guests and stands at the seminar, including:
Employer Disability Information service
Migraine Association of Ireland - more here
Disability Action N.Irl
We are very grateful for the support of the Equality Commission Northern Ireland for their support for this event