Defeating wars legacy is the right to independence and job security

Iraq is failing to implement its national laws ensuring employment rights for people with disabilities, leaving job quotas for Iraqis with disabilities unfilled and hundreds of thousands unemployed, Human Rights Watch have said. 

In 2019, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which monitors the international treaty, estimated that Iraq had one of the largest populations of people with disabilities in the world, at around 3 million people, a result of decades of armed conflict. The 2019 protests also left some 25,000 people wounded, of whom some 5,000 live with permanent disabilities.

   

“Legal promises to employ people with disabilities in Iraq are not translating into real job opportunities,” said Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The gap between law and practice leaves hundreds of thousands of Iraqis with disabilities struggling to earn a living.” 

“Despite having one of the largest populations of people with disabilities in the world, Iraqi authorities are failing to meet their needs,” Sanbar said. “The government should make sure their commitment to providing job opportunities for Iraqis with disabilities isn’t an empty promise.”

   

The Chaldean Community Foundation is rooted in Chaldean cultural heritage, serving new Iraqi-Chaldeans to the USA. Since their conception, the CCF has dedicated its efforts to advancing their work in the US Chaldean community. Their Breaking Barriers schemes for disabled people, is deserving of greater media attention and wider public support.