Reframing Inclusion: Steps Toward Disability-Inclusive Employment in the ME

Reframing Inclusion: Steps Toward Disability-Inclusive Employment in the MENA Region

What happens when policy experts, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities, private sector leaders, and international organizations sit at the same table to discuss and to act on the right to inclusive employment?

Over two days in Madrid, the Capacity Building on Employment for Persons with Disabilities in the MENA Region, co-organized by the Union for the Mediterranean and the Spanish National Organization of the Blind (ONCE) with the support of the German Agency for International Cooperation, gathered committed stakeholders from across the Mediterranean to do exactly that. The focus: translating rights into inclusive employment outcomes. 

What did we share, discuss, and learn? Here go the main headlines:

1. Informality of employment remains a major issue, with persons with disabilities overrepresented in the MENA informal economy. This can be addressed from different angles: transition to formal employment remains the ultimate goal, but greater attention to security, accessibility, and care and support to workers with disability, regardless of their employment situation, cannot be disregarded. This is particularly true for women and youth with disabilities which are subject to multiple, intersecting forms of discrimination.

2. Disability benefits shall focus on the extra costs of disability and be compatible with income from employment.

3. Green and digital transitions are not yet accessible, and both must be reimagined to include persons with disabilities from the start.

4. Private sector involvement is crucial but needs stronger bridges, dedicated awareness raising, and ongoing support. Organizations of Persons with Disabilities cannot be left at the margin of this approach, and networks and good practices already exist in the region. We have to build on the existent!

5. Facilitating diverse, regional dialogue works, if done right: “accessibility from the onset, not as an afterthought; no multitasking; challenge ideas, not people; leave space for all”: these simple rules shaped a truly inclusive and constructive exchange.

The meeting wasn’t an end in itself, but a catalyst. The next milestone? Keep following us for more and better!.

Special thanks to the UfM team, ONCE Social Group, GIZ, EDF, AOPD and all the participants for their expertise, honesty, and commitment to equity.