Increasing the employability of PWDs by building an inclusive business ecosystem

Project description:

The project is funded by the European Union (EU), implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and implemented by the Kragujevac Youth with Disabilities Forum in partnership with the Belgrade Youth with Disabilities Forum and the Central Serbia ICT Cluster. The project is supported by the Business Innovation Center Kragujevac as a local business support institution.

The specific goal of the project is to improve the social position, social inclusion and work engagement of PWDs, especially young people and women in Kragujevac through measures:

• Increasing the accessibility of education services for IT knowledge and skills,
• Strengthening the capacity of PWDs for employment
• Sensitization of social actors from the business sector for the implementation of inclusion in the employment of PWDs.

The target group of the project are:

• Minimum 20 persons with disabilities and minimum 20 persons from the hard-to-employ category,
• 10 employers from the city.

In partnership with ICT CS and FMI Belgrade and with the cooperation and support of BIC Kraguejvac, trainings will be conducted for 20 PWDs in the field of information technology - training to improve IT skills, as follows:

• Creating and updating sites through WordPress training,
• Digital marketing and
• Using basic Microsoft office tools such as Word and Excel.

On the other hand, at least 20 young PWDs (50% women) will be successfully trained in the field of soft-transfer skills important for business engagement (communication, technical, organizational and personal skills) through the implementation of 5 workshops. The mentioned trainings will be conducted in the BIC facility.

The project will permanently solve the access to the facility itself through the installation of a platform and internal communication for users of wheelchairs and more difficult to move, which will establish continuity in the preparation and training of PWDs for employment.

During the project, psychosocial support for the target group will be provided by experts.

In order to sensitize the business community for the needs of PWDs, the project will conduct an analysis of the accessibility of facilities in the city of Kragujevac and provide advice to employers to improve accessibility.

Representatives of the business sector will be informed about the legislative framework governing the employment of PWDs, the necessary preconditions (accessibility), resources and capacities of PWDs in Kragujevac, through an information session / seminar and organization of the forum "PWDs' right to work".