Project in Turkey a Success

“DISABLED AT WORK! successfully completed” 

A TURKISH - DUTCH COOPERATION  “TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO GIVE PHYSICALLY DISABLED PEOPLE ENTRANCE INTO THE LABOUR MARKET.” 

 In 2007 18 organizations from Denizli and Holland came together in Disabled at Work Project for supporting the employment of disabled people. Workability Europe was the leading partner.

The planned process was identifying the abilities of physically disabled people in Denizli, giving them occupational trainings, employing them in the existent companies in Denizli and additionally improving the quality of life for the disabled.  During the project period Dutch employment system for disabled people is evaluated and a special employment and consultancy method for disabled people is developed. It was a real participation and know-how sharing project that all the organizations experienced very much.  

The aim of the project was establishing an organizational structure in which the organizations in Denizli dealing with disability, social service and employment are involved; with this body reaching 250 physically disabled people, having a total of 180 tested, trained and/or matched disabled and at the end 60 employed disabled. At the end figures that was reached are 102 tested, 199 vocationally trained disabled and total of 122 disabled has been placed into employment. These figures show us how efficient the cooperation was.  

The project has been a success and an example for other municipalities and cities in order to promote the equality of the disabled within society by being vocationally trained and have necessary skills which is demanded by the work force.  The other important step of the project was employment of disabled people in the existing companies together with nondisabled people instead of sheltered workshops. This also supported the integration of disabled people and breaking the prejudice of nondisabled people on working with disabled. 

Within the project “Disabled at Work” several major achievements have been accomplished. 2 test centres installed in 2 different points. Job Consultants and Job Coaches for disabled people have been trained and are now professionalized in this field, co operational structure has been established and is officialised by a protocol, 17 personnel for different İŞKUR Directorates (all over Turkey) have been trained as testers, as part of the sustainability of the project a sub commission has been established under the Provincial Employment Commission directed by the Governor of Denizli. From the being of the project the employment number of the disabled for the year 2007 was 1515 and as of March 2010 the number has risen to 1634. We can see that from the implementation of the project the employment number of the disabled has risen by approx. % 10.  Disabled at Work Project was financed by the Matra Programme of The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.