June workshop participants in Kyrgyzstan
The SP&PFM country project in Kyrgyzstan hosted two national workshops (27 and 29 June) to discuss improvement of disability-inclusive social protection and employment opportunities for people living with disabilities.
The first workshop, on disability-inclusive social protection, attracted 25 officials from the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Migration, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan, the Association of Organizations of Disabled People, and international development agencies. They discussed guiding principles for disability-inclusive social protection and performance indicators for the Programme Accessible Country 2030.
The second workshop consisted in a training for trainers on the role of public employment service counsellors in supporting jobseekers with disabilities. Some 60 counsellors of public employment services under the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Migration participated. The training centred on effective mediation between jobseekers with disabilities and employers. Topics discussed during the training also included performance indicators for the Programme Accessible Country 2030; revision of the Labour Code and the law on disability; employers’ needs assessments and practical challenges; and the design of disability-inclusive employment guidance for the counsellors. Best practices for promoting employment opportunities for persons with disabilities from Croatia, Myanmar and Uzbekistan were featured.
“The most common reasons for unemployed working-age people with a disability in Kyrgyzstan are lack of necessary skills or education and insufficient work experience—no accessibility of public transport, discrimination [or] unwillingness of employers to hire and create conditions for them,” explained Gulmira Kasymalieva, from the Federation of Trade Unions, during the second workshop.
The SP&PFM country project will soon follow with a guide on the employment of people with disabilities for the public employment service and national stakeholders.
Learn more about SP&PFM in Kyrgyzstan here.