OSCE Mission promotes employment of people with disabilities

Aferdita Gashi, a mother of two, quietly finishes her third and last day of work at the Department of Education in Lipjan/Lipljan municipality, central Kosovo. She is one of 80 people with disabilities who joined an initiative of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, and the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, to demonstrate their skills to potential employers from 17 to 19 October 2011.

“These are the only three days I worked my entire life,” Aferdita says. “It’s been great. People at the municipal department of education received me well and treated me with respect,” she says.

Stereotypes and discrimination

Aferdita’s disability would not prevent her from making a full contribution in the workplace, but in a society where stereotypes are strong and with unemployment estimated at 40 percent, people with disabilities are most often overlooked as candidates.

“Discrimination and lack of equal opportunities are the fate of people with disabilities,” says Afrim Maliqi from a local NGO, HandiKOS. “There are 150,000 people in Kosovo who have different disabilities, but share the stigma and discrimination. Their access to work remains a challenge.”

Aferdita’s husband is also disabled; they married when she was 22 years old. They and their two children live on an allowance of 90 Euros a month. Aferdita thus tried to make the best of this rare opportunity. “I met several school directors, and I tried to lobby for myself,” she says. “I’ve only finished high school, but I am willing to learn. A job is my only wish.”

Looking for a sustainable solution

Valbona Dermaku, Human Rights Adviser for the OSCE Mission, explained the Mission’s involvement: “October is Disability Employment Awareness Month. Last year we marked it by employing people with disabilities for one or two days mainly at the OSCE.”

This year, the OSCE expanded its activities and included local institutions in the project. “We wanted to lobby as many potential employers as possible. We teamed-up with local institutions and managed to have more people employed for at least three days in government ministries and local municipalities.”

Nonetheless, the focus is now on helping ensure that the legislative framework takes the rights and needs of people with disabilities into account. The Mission was part of a working group that reviewed the law for blind and visually impaired persons, and is currently helping review a programme for the use of sign language in Kosovo institutions.

“Having legislation which sets out minimum numbers for the employment of people with disabilities in the civil service, and which obliges central and local level institutions to cater to their needs, is crucial in encouraging social inclusion,” stresses Valbona.

Further opportunities ahead

Armend Ademi, a 24 year old deaf person from Prishtinë/Priština, says that running the sign language programme in Kosovo institutions will make a difference in his everyday life. “Right now, communication is a problem for me. If I need to go to the municipality for a document, or see to a doctor, I need to have someone to interpret for me all the time,” he says.

Ademi was one of 20 people that worked on a three-day placement in the OSCE Mission, and he has a plan for his future profession. “I want to become an assistant in the Prizren special school for deaf people, where I studied.” He says that each class is supposed to have one deaf assistant to help professors who don’t know sign language well enough to get their message across to students.

Dermaku says she knows that three days of work is a short period of time to make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities. However, she has pledged further support: “We will continue to help them in their search for jobs. We will organize a package of training sessions in 2012 on how to write a CV, preparing for interviews, developing representation skills, and how to look for jobs.”  

“Reviewing legislation and ensuring that it reflects the needs of disabled people remains one of our priorities,” she concludes.

Written by Mevlyde Salihu