Egypt: Barriers to Work for People With Disabilities

Beirut — Obstacles, Ineffective Quotas, Inaccessible Workplaces Deepen Economic Insecurity

People with disabilities in Egypt face systemic barriers to their right to work amid poor implementation of a 2018 disability rights law, Human Rights Watch said today. They face discriminatory hiring practices, inaccessible workplaces, barriers to obtaining a national disability card, ineffective job quotas, and underpaid sham roles that deny them work and fair pay.

A 2018 law significantly improved the legislative framework for disability rights in Egypt, bringing it closer to international standards. However, many reforms face serious obstacles to implementation, leaving those with disabilities at higher risk of unemployment, poverty, and economic insecurity. The government proposed amendments to the law in 2025, currently before parliament, which risk restricting the definition of disabilities and the fulfillment of rights.

"Egypt's 2018 law on disability rights was a critical step, but the law's implementation has left many excluded from the workforce, facing perpetuating unemployment and economic marginalization," said Amr Magdi, senior Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Inclusion demands more than legislation. It requires the government enforcing the law, monitoring, and training employers, and making workplaces accessible."

Human Rights Watch interviewed 17 people, including 13 with disabilities, as well as a representative of an international humanitarian organization, 2 representatives of independent Egyptian organizations working on disability rights, and a former senior government official. Human Rights Watch wrote to the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity on April 7, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Based on a 2022 government national survey, people with disabilities in Egypt constitute about 11 percent of the population, or roughly 12 million people, though disability prevalence may be underreported due to stigma, under-identification, and barriers to disclosure.

Forty percent of those surveyed who were age 4 or older did not receive any education (compared to 27 percent of total population in a different 2018 survey) and only 17 percent had finished secondary education, compared with 59 percent of the male population over age 25. Of people with disabilities surveyed, 49 percent did not work.

An independent 2019 study concluded that 80 percent of people with disabilities lived below the national poverty line, compared to about 30 percent of the total population.

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