Civil society efforts brought disability issues to forefront – President

Civil society’s on-going endeavours have brought issues of disability and employment to the forefront of the national agenda, President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said yesterday.

Opening the European Conference on Inclusive Workplaces, organised by the Malta Federation of Organisations Persons with Disability and the Malta Association for Supported Employment, she said leadership shown by civil society stakeholders has proved that people with disability, through their diverse abilities, can be powerful contributors to the workforce.

Employing more people with disability is reflected in the general expansion of the Maltese workforce.

According to data from the National Statistics Office, the number of people gainfully occupied, including both full and parttime, increased by nine per cent last year, she said.

That people with disabilities are part of this increase is, in no small way, due to the effective strategies adopted by the authorities.

For example, due to the great success of the Supported Employment Programme, a muchneeded review in the way our country is developing a more inclusive workforce has begun.

Thanks to the Malta Association of Supported Employment, established by the Malta Federation of Persons with Disability, working hand in hand with our policymakers and national authorities, “we have started formulating a systematic response to the inclusion of all people deemed ‘vulnerable, in some way, in employment”.

The programme, which the President said touched the lives of hundreds of people between 2015 and 2016, is now reaching an even broader number of individuals through the LEAP! Agency.

It is important, she said, that countries continue to appraise and review, as necessary, their policies and strategies.