Jakarta – Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian People’s Legislative Assembly Lestari Moerdijat encourages easy access to employment opportunities for people with disabilities. This is in accordance with the mandate of Law Number 8 of 2016 regarding Persons with Disabilities, which regulates the rights, protection and empowerment of persons with disabilities in Indonesia. “The major challenge that people with disabilities are currently facing is, apart from the difficulty in accessing basic services, it is also difficult to access employment opportunities,” says Lestari in his statement, Friday (12/12). Based on 2023 Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, there are approximately 22.97 million people with disabilities in Indonesia, with 17 million being of working age. Of the disabled people of productive age, only 45% work and the majority (83%) are absorbed into the non-formal sector. SCROLL TO CONTINUE CONTENT In fact, by Article 53 paragraph (1) of Law Number 8/2016 concerning Persons with Disabilities (UU PD), the government, both central government, regional government, State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), and Regionally Owned Enterprises (BUMD) are required to employ at least 2% of the total workforce with disabilities. Meanwhile, paragraph (2) of the same law regulates the obligation of private companies to absorb a minimum of 1% of the workforce with disabilities. Lestari explained that with the various limitations they have, people with disabilities should receive more attention than citizens. That way they can live their daily lives like other children of the nation. “With limited access to health services and employment opportunities, people with disabilities in Indonesia live in vulnerable conditions in their daily lives,” he said. This member of Commission Therefore, he encouraged various efforts to facilitate access to health services and employment for people with disabilities to materialize immediately. “In addition, more detailed disparate population data must be realized immediately, so that every policy aimed at people with disabilities can be right on target,” he added. He also hopes that all relevant parties will be able to build strong cooperation in building access to health services and employment opportunities for every citizen, including people with disabilities in the country. Also watch the video “Government Efforts to Accommodation Persons with Disabilities in the World of Work” (akn/ega)