Over 330 people with disabilities were employed in the Vitebsk region in January-October

November 16, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. In the Vitebsk region, 332 people with disabilities were employed in January-October of the current year. This was reported by Lyudmila Zaitseva, Head of the Active Employment Policy Department of the Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, today at the international conference "New Jobs: Ways and Means of Involving Young People with Disabilities in Labor Activities," according to a BELTA correspondent. Of these, 226 people were employed in reserved jobs. 39 people with disabilities underwent vocational training in specialties in demand in the labor market (elevator operator, sales assistant, boiler operator, etc.). Agreements were concluded with 26 organizations for the financing of expenses for the creation of 65 specialized jobs. For the first time in the republic, measures were taken to compensate for the costs of maintaining a job for a person with a disability at the private unitary enterprise "Eluiz" of the public association "BelTIZ". Lyudmila Zaitseva also noted that the employment service conducts individual counseling with each person with a disability who applies, with the aim of further employment, and provides psychological support. At the same time, such people lack personal initiative: currently, only 17.2% of all people with disabilities are employed in the region, she stated. As Ulf Bengtsson, the Swedish head of the Belarusian-Swedish project "Social Integration of Children and Young People with Disabilities in the Vitebsk Region," noted in an interview with a BELTA correspondent, real steps have been taken in Belarus in recent years to create a barrier-free environment and socialize people with disabilities. "The efforts made have not only directly benefited people in this category but have also helped to initiate the process of changing the negative stereotype that has developed regarding people with disabilities. Society's consciousness has begun to change for the better," he said. The international conference brought together specialists from different regions of Belarus, St. Petersburg, and the Swedish city of Halmstad. Over two days, participants will exchange experiences in socializing people with disabilities. The event is part of the Belarusian-Swedish project. This is the second project between the Vitebsk region and Halmstad aimed at improving the lives of people with disabilities and financed by the Swedish side. -0-