United Nations Hiring for Researcher – Situation Analysis Report concerning gaps in data, law, policy and practice on employment for Persons with Disabilities, with a focus on women Job at Manama Full Time

Bahrain is committed to promoting decent work for all in Bahrain. The country has made good progress in improving women’s labor force participation, especially under the Bahrain Supreme Council for Women. Recently, there has been a focus on inclusion of persons with disabilities, particularly in light of the international commitments the country has on ensuring non-discrimination against women with disabilities, including in employment. These include Bahrain’s accession or ratification of:

• the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2011 under which Bahrain is requested to update the Committee on: (a) Measures taken to mainstream the rights of women and girls with disabilities into all legislation, policies and programmes to adhere with the Convention and in accordance with the Committee’s general comment No. 3 (2016); and (b) Steps taken to support and empower women with disabilities through leadership of representative organizations and the building of their own organizations.
• the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2002 which includes disability inclusion in reference to article 11 (employment)
• the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPfA) including equality for women with disabilities
• ILO Convention No 111 on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 in 2000. This includes discrimination on several grounds, across all aspects of employment (recruitment, promotion, pay etc.) and describes the types and forms discrimination takes
• ILO Convention No 159 on the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) in 1999. Under this Convention, Bahrain is obliged to formulate, implement, and periodically review a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons

One in every five women is likely to experience disability in her life. This exposes women to greater vulnerabilities and particularly as a result of the COVID -19 pandemic including adverse impacts on accessing or remaining in jobs. Already facing exclusion in employment, women and especially women with disabilities are more likely to lose their jobs and experience greater difficulties returning to work during recovery post the COVID-19 pandemic .

Though there is evidence globally and regionally about the challenges women with disabilities face in terms of access to skills development and employment, data for Bahrain is limited. Law provides a quota for the employment of persons with disabilities however there is limited knowledge of how effective this quota is and how far it meets the needs of women with disabilities. There is even less data on the double discrimination women with disabilities face. Without an understanding of the situation on ground, it is difficult to formulate effective policies and programmes to increase decent job opportunities for women with disabilities.

The UN, in collaboration with the government of Bahrain plans to develop a programme focusing on economic empowerment and equality in the labor market for women with disabilities. The programme will be based on a gender-responsive analysis of the current situation in terms of gaps in data, law, policy and practice, as well as opportunities to build on. The purpose of this assignment is to conduct the gender-responsive analysis.

The overall goal of the research is to determine the extent to which there are gaps in data, and national laws, regulations, policies in terms of the benchmarks contained in the Conventions listed in section 1 of this document.

Specific research objectives include to:

1. Take stock of existing data on persons with disabilities, with a focus on women with disabilities,(Women with Disabilities, and identify data gaps that hamper informed gender-responsive decision-making.

2. Identify the relevant provisions of national laws, regulations, policies, etc. and determine whether and how benchmarks in the listed Conventions (pls see Background section) are reflected

3. Shed light – to the degree possible – of how the existing laws, regulations, policies are applied in practice, including how women with disabilities experience intersectional discrimination based on nationality, age, and other grounds.
4. Recommend the necessary changes that need to be made to data collection and analysis, policy and law to improve informed decision-making concerning persons with disabilities, especially women with disabilities.

An advanced university degree in law or legal studies is required.
At least 5 years of research experience in issues of WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES, human rights, women’s rights, carrying out similar data and legislative analysis, and strong analytical skills is required.
The following attributes/experience would be desirable:

• Previous work related to data and policy gap analysis concerning persons with disabilities
• Previous work with the UN and understanding of international conventions