Disability Discrimination in Zambia: An Employment Law Perspective
Date
2013-03-15
Authors
Chilambwe, Natasha
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Abstract
This obligatory essay looks at the phenomenon of disabled individuals in the employment sector in Zambia. It acknowledges the current status quo which is that people with disabilities have been amongst the most economically impoverished, politically marginalised and least visible members of society not only in Zambia but globally. The denial of equal employment opportunities to people with disabilities forms one of the root causes of the poverty and exclusion of many members of this group. People with disabilities are more likely than others to experience disadvantages in the labour market. The purpose of this study was therefore to scruitnise the laws of Zambia pertaining to employment and discrimination against individuals with disabilities, and how these laws are being reinforced so as to curb the issue of unemployment among people with disabilities. The overall objective of this study was therefore to construct an account on how the Zambian legislature has endeavoured to strengthen the laws tailored to eradicate discrimination in employment against persons with disabilities.In attempting to have a holistic view, this paper delved into the critical points of current knowledge as well as the relevant human rights and labour laws. The research findings pertinent to the specific objectives revealed that there is discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the employment sector. The inadequacies of the law and its enforcers in protecting against this situation also came to light. In addition, the finding established that law enforcers and monitoring groups like statutory bodies such as Zambia Agency for Persons with disabilities are under utilised. The findings further revealed the need for disabled individuals to begin taking action against perpetrators of such discrimination as they showed that very few victims actually even report cases of discrimination or even know where to report such cases.Society's norms and values ought to change and come to the realisation that disabled persons can positively contribute to the nation. It is for this reason that the concluding chapter makes a number of recommendations among them the need for law reform and it's implementation to the latter as a means to ameliorate and possibly eradicate disability discrimination.
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Keywords
Disability-Zambia , Discrimination-Zambia