It is important to unemployed persons with disabilities to acquire practical knowledge that will give them a quick start in the labour market. And the state should play a leading role here. It is the state that must be an initiator, apply to these population groups, and tell them about new opportunities and prospects as well as design economic incentives. Oleksii Miroshnychenko, President of the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine, writes about that in an article for Dzerkalo Tyzhnia weekly.

“Adult training and retraining should become a priority of the state policy that must be financed in decent amounts. Implementation of the lifelong learning concept will become a foundation for labour productivity increase. Surely, rapid entry into the labour market will need short-term training programmes, acquisition of partial qualification, microskills, etc.”, Oleksii Miroshnychenko pointed out.

According to him, the term “inclusion” has acquired a new meaning in Ukraine, and now covers not only persons with disabilities but all people able to work. “As presently perceived, inclusion is not only about low-floor transport, ramps or wide passages in a building, large toilets, and much space at the workplace. Today, inclusion in the labour market means accessibility of quick acquisition of a new profession and the opportunity to work for everyone capable and willing: from persons with disabilities to students and people of pensionable age”, the article says.

Oleksii Miroshnychenko notes that inclusion can rescue the labour market because, in the current conditions, we can only reckon on those people who stay in the country. “Clearly, our citizens aboard, and foreigners alike, will hardly come to Ukraine because of danger, no housing, and lack of jobs. We have only one solution – engage as much as possible those who can work and are currently in Ukraine”, Oleksii Miroshnychenko pointed out.

“There is much hope on persons with disabilities. There are 2.55 million able-bodied persons with disabilities in Ukraine at present. 57% of them, 1.5 million, have disability group 3. Of these 2.55 million, about 465 thousand, that is only 18%, are employed. This is one of the lowest figures among the European Union countries. If systemic changes are implemented, no less than one more million people will be able to get a job”, the article reads.

The text has been prepared within the framework of the project the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine "Establishing a consultative system for the integration of persons with disabilities into the workplace". This project is implemented with the support of the International Labour Organization’s initiative funded by the Government of Belgium, titled "ILO Support to Ukraine: prevention of labour exploitation and human trafficking, support to entrepreneurship development and social partners" as well as the ILO RBSA project "Promoting inclusive and sustainable reconstruction in Ukraine".