The Indonesian government and the House of Representatives have reached an agreement to establish the National Disabilities Commission (KND) charged with improving the well-being and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
The agreement was reached in a meeting set up by government officials and the House Commission VIII specifically to discuss a bill addressing the welfare of people with disabilities. The bill follows on from Indonesia’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and will be replacing the previous 1997 disability law. This law has drawn much criticism in recent years from disability lobby groups, including charges of ineffectiveness, lack of enforcement, discrimination and grounding in a charity based approach.
Deputy Chairperson of the Commission VIII, Ledia Hanifa Amaliah expressed how the KND will be included in the draft bill currently in discussion, and how a presidential regulation will be providing details of the disability commission, its formation and the process.
It is not yet known with precision when the commission will be set up. While the draft bill has been completed, it is still to be edited, and following that will have to be deliberated and approved. Nevertheless, the deputy chairperson is hopeful, expressing how this process would take less than two years.
More changes are in the pipeline, with Ledia expressing how the government and state-owned enterprises will have to respect a 2 percent quota of jobs reserved for disabled people and private institutions will have to allocate a 1 percent quota.
