Doing Your Job, Daily Brief 4 June, 2024

What follows is a noteworthy success story. But should it be?

Seeing that the authorities in Iraq were not upholding laws ensuring employment rights for people with disabilities, some folks decided to take matters into their own hands.

Activist Muwafaq al-Khafaji runs workshops to educate employers on employment rights for people with disabilities. He also encourages them to hire people with disabilities.

After one such workshop, a man named Muhammed Ali al-Mayahi decided to heed the call. Al-Mayahi is CEO of the Bab al-Agha Bakeries in Baghdad. (They have a gorgeous website, by the way.)

First, he hired five deaf employees. When he saw they were doing well, he hired more, and then still more. Today, they have almost 30 deaf employees.

In Al-Mayahi’s words: “Their competence and energy are very high. We must ensure that these people can live their lives just as everyone else here in Iraq. I hope that all companies will follow our example.”

Deaf employees at the bakery say their employment has had a hugely positive impact on their lives.

“Since I was hired here, my life has changed,” Shaima, 24, said. “Today, I can communicate with people, make a living, and rely on myself.”

It’s a success story, sure, but it shouldn’t be anything unusual. Of course, deaf folks and other people with disabilities can work in a bakery and do countless other jobs. There shouldn’t even be a story here.

In Iraq, however, it is a noteworthy story, because it’s exceptional. But it wouldn’t be exceptional, if the authorities implemented the law.

Federal Iraqi law allocates five percent of public sector jobs and three percent of private sector jobs to people with disabilities. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has a similar law.

These laws have been around for more than a decade – plenty of time for employers to get on board and for authorities to enforce them.

And yet, while the federal law allows for fines against private sector employers who fail to comply with the three percent quota, no fines have ever been issued.

The result is, employment quotas are not being met, leaving hundreds of thousands of Iraqis with disabilities unemployed. Remember, too, Iraq has one of the largest populations of people with disabilities in the world.

In short, Iraqis with disabilities are willing and able to work. If only the authorities were as willing to do their job of enforcing the law.