Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

The roundtable “Work Engagement and Employment of Persons with Intellectual and Mental Disabilities” was held on 2 April 2015 at the premises of the Creative Education Center KEC, organized by the Creative Education Center – KEC and the Clinic for Mental Disorders “Dr Laza Lazarević”. The roundtable was attended by representatives of the public, civil and business sectors, as well as beneficiaries, persons with intellectual and mental disabilities.

The roundtable is part of the project “Social Services in the Community and Employment for Persons with Intellectual and Mental Disabilities”, supported by the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, as part of the project “Open Hug”. The goal of the roundtable was: establish a wide and open dialog to promote the importance of work engagement and contribute to positive changes at the policy and practice level in achieving the right to work and social integration of persons with intellectual and mental disabilities in the open labor market.

A particularly important contribution to the roundtable was given by the beneficiaries of psychiatric services from the “Dr Laza Lazarević” Clinic, the association “Duša” and the “Creative Education Center – KEC”, emphasizing through their authentic stories the contribution of work engagement and employment to building up their self-confidence, self-respect, sense of belonging to a community and improving their quality of life.

The roundtable participants assessed work engagement to be very important for the social inclusion of persons with intellectual and mental disabilities, starting from the fact that true inclusion in society is only possible through socially valued roles. The challenge for the sustainable employment of persons with intellectual and mental disabilities, trained in trades not in demand on the labor market, are additional training and re-training, while adequate selection of workplaces, harmonized with their wishes and abilities, produces positive results. The message of the meeting was that the work engagement and employment program in the open labor market imparts positive changes in public awareness regarding persons with intellectual and mental disabilities.

Source: www.kecmnro.org.rs