Transitions Towards an Inclusive Future:Vocational Skills Development and Employment Options for Persons with Disabilities in Europe & Eurasia

This document is one of a series of publications sponsored by the Social Transition Team in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia on social transition issues in the Region. You may download the documents in this series from the USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse website (http://dec.usaid.gov), using the Doc IDs for reference. If you would like more information about these and upcoming products, please contact the Social Transition Team at USAID at [email protected] Social Transition Series includes: According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, people with disabilities constitute at least 10 percent of any population. Worldwide, the approximate number of persons with disabilities is 650 million; for those who are of working age, the estimate is 470 million (ILO, 2007a). The ILO (2006d) estimates that unemployment rates for individuals with disabilities range anywhere from 50 percent to 80 percent internationally, rates which are two or three times higher than those for the general population. Pineda and Cuk (2007) estimate that the unemployment rate for persons with disabilities in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) is between 80 percent and 90 percent. High unemployment rates for persons with disabilities within Europe and Eurasia and elsewhere are in part a consequence of their limited access to education and vocational skills training. Less than 10 percent of the population with disabilities internationally attends educational institutions (UNESCO, 2006); even fewer attend vocational skills training. Consequently, persons with disabilities routinely face economic hardship. The strong relationship that exists between disability and poverty reinforces itself. Poverty makes individuals more vulnerable to disability and disability, through the lack of jobs and opportunities, reinforces poverty. Hope (2003) states that 82 percent of persons with disabilities in developing countries live below the poverty line; Elwan (1999) suggests that 15 percent to 20 percent of the poor in developing countries are disabled. In Europe and Eurasia (statistics do not include Russia), where the government has historically been the primary provider of educational and vocational skills training and employment-related services (UNICEF, 2001), the estimated number of persons with disabilities is 16.5 million. Across the region, the governments spend up to one percent of GDP in service and care provision primarily by means of a centralized, segregated, institution-based service delivery system (UNICEF and World Bank, 2003). Unfortunately, a segregated, institution-based service delivery system is not only expensive, but it is also less effective in …