The overall objective of the joint project was to contribute to the development of and compliance with disability employment rights by strengthening the role of civil society organizations of people with disabilities (PWDs) and other relevant stakeholders. The focus was on improving the implementation of the Law on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment, through the development of innovative platform for disability employment policy monitoring and the establishment of a disability employment trade union.
SeConS was tasked to design and conduct a survey and assist in the advocacy campaign. The survey was conducted on a representative sample of 659 people with disabilities in an adequate proportion of the employed and unemployed, including 284 employers. Qualitative research was conducted through 6 focus group discussions and 10 in-depth interviews.
Survey findings indicated progress in several aspects of employment of PWDs in Serbia since the adoption of the Law (2009), although the two shortcomings are still present: worse qualification structure of PWDs and under-representation of women with disabilities in the labour force. The intention is to continue to develop information-based policies and to monitor the state of affairs in the field of PWDs employment based on relevant indicators and reliable data.
The platform with conclusions and activities, and the recommendations for improving PWDs employment in the form of concrete local action plans, were presented at the final conference held in June 2014.