European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities: Carrefour Spain and ACCESS Integrationsbegleitung (Germany) are the winners of Employment for All Awards 2017

Carrefour Spain and ACCESS Integrationsbegleitung (Germany) are the winners of the “Employment for All Awards”, which were announced on the 15th June 2017 in Belfast during the gala dinner of the 1st World Conference on Supported Employment “Employment for All – A Global Perspective” Conference. The Employment for All Awards recognise the most promising practices towards full inclusion of persons with disabilities in the labour market. This third instalment received over 60 applications from all across Europe.

The practice All Labour Integration from Carrefour Spain won the Award in the Category “Business/Employers”, and the practice Supported employment and Career management from ACCESS Integrationsbegleitung received the prize in the category “Social Service/Support Providers”.

The Employment for all awards, given by the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) and the European Union of Supported Employment (EUSE), aim to find and publicize different models and approaches for inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workforce. The practices should provide equal opportunities to access gainful employment and enable persons with disabilities to live independently and contribute to society. The awards identify Social Services/Support Providers and Businesses/Employers who have designed and implemented these practices for employment of persons with disabilities. The awards ceremony counted with the presence of 6 nominees: Carrefour Spain, City of Oslo (Norway) and Discovering Hands (Germany) represented Business and Employers; Access Employment Service (Germany), Activa Foundation (Sweden) and ONCE – Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (Spain) represented Social Service Providers.

Carrefour Spain practices were praised for providing employment in the different functional departments of Carrefour and adapting space and work practices to the needs of persons with disabilities.

ACCESS Integrationsbegleitung’s well-rounded practice impressed the jury due to its high success rate, between 60 and 80%, and its inclusive approach in terms of stakeholders: working with persons with disabilities, employers and other stakeholders to provide a complete approach.

Furthemore a booklet with the 10 best practices identified during the review of applicants was officially launched during the Conference.

Mr James Crowe, President of EASPD remarked that “the best practices identified during the Employment for All Awards demonstrate important achievements in the quest for full employment of persons with disabilities. Our goal is that service providers identify and replicate positive aspects of these practices.”

Margaret Haddock, President of EUSE stated that “these Awards have a fundamental role in identifying successful practices that can be replicated in other countries. We encourage employers and social service providers to take study and implement these practices, so that we can achieve full employment for persons with disabilities.”

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