265. In view of the large number of people with disabilities, after ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 23 July 2009, Burkina Faso made a series of efforts to enforce the rights stipulated therein. Thus, a Law on the promotion and protection of persons with disabilities was enacted on 1 April 2010. The intended objective for the enactment of this law is to promote and ensure full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by people with disabilities and to guarantee respect for their inherent dignity. 266. To ensure the implementation of this law, the government passed four implementing decrees on 12 July 2012. These Decrees came into force on 29 October 2012. The first decree (No. 2012-824/PRES/PM/MASSN/MEF/MS of 22 October 2012) touches on the issuance of disability cards to physically-challenged persons in Burkina Faso. With these disability cards, the physically-challenged persons holding them enjoy some benefits particularly in the area of health, education, employment, transportation and housing The benefits range from the reduction of costs of services to total exemptions depending on the degree of disability or according to whether the person concerned is deprived or not. 267. The second decree (No.828-2012/PRES/PM/MASSN/MENA/MESS of 22 October 2012) concerns social measures for physically challenged persons concerning health and education. It stipulates the rate of reduction of orthopaedic equipment, wheel chairs, tricycles, prosthetics and white canes. It also stipulates the modalities for exemption from hospitalisation fees and participation by physically-challenged persons in examinations and school and university entrance examinations. 268. Furthermore, any person physically-challenged person declared indigent enjoys full and free health care for consultation, care, medical examinations and hospitalisation in State-owned health centres and health facilities in the communes. The person also enjoys free and full uptake of school fees/registration fees in schools and in public and community educational institutions and universities as well as expenses for orthopaedic equipment, wheel chairs, ordinary tricycles, auditory or visual prosthetics, white canes and braille-marked learning aids. 269. For people with disabilities not declared indigent, they benefit from a 50% reduction in case of partial invalidity and 80% in case of total invalidity for consultation fees, healthcare, medical examinations and hospitalisation fees in State-owned health centres or health facilities in the communes. They also enjoy 25% reduction in case of partial invalidity and 50% in case of total invalidity for school expenses and/or registration fees in educational institutions of the State or the communes. Furthermore, they benefit from 50% reduction in the area of orthopaedic equipment, wheel chairs, ordinary tricycles, hearing aids and visual prosthetics, white canes and braille learning aids depending on the degree of invalidity. 270. The third decree (No. 2012-824/ PRES/ PM/MASSN/MEF/MS of 22 October 2012) concerns social measures for persons with disabilities in the areas of vocational training, employment and transportation. Concerning employment, any employer recruiting 50 workers is under an obligation to reserve a quota of at least 5% to persons with disabilities. 271. The fourth decree concerns the adoption of the national strategy for the protection and promotion of persons with disabilities. This strategy which covers the period 2012-2021 lays particular emphasis on the risks of marginalisation and exclusion of persons with disabilities by promoting their access to factors of production and to basic social services. The adoption of this 67