The International Labor Organization (ILO) on Monday called for more international efforts to break down barriers that still prevent millions of people with disabilities from working.

"Decent work is the ILO's primary goal for everyone, including people with disabilities," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia in a statement to mark the International Day of Disabled Persons on Dec. 3.

"When we promote the rights and dignity of people with disabilities, we are empowering individuals, enriching societies and strengthening economies," Somavia said.

According to a new ILO report, some 650 million people, or one out of every 10 people in the world, has a disability, and of these, approximately 470 million are of working age.

While many are successfully employed and fully integrated into society, people with disabilities as a group often face disproportionate levels of poverty and unemployment.

"There is a strong link between disability and poverty," said the report, entitled "The right to decent work of persons with disabilities."

It said an estimated 80 percent of all people with disabilities in the world live in developing countries. Of these, some 426 million live below the poverty line.

The report said significant and sustained efforts are vital not only to promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in employment, rural development and poverty reduction programs, but also in moving toward achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goals for halving poverty by the year 2015.