THE first facility in Bulgaria to encourage employment and economic enterprise among people with disabilities is about to open its doors in Varna.
According to Alexandra Georgieva, in charge of EU pre-accession funds and international programmes at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the project, implemented under EU Phare 2001, is to be completed next year to deal with the issues of disabled people hampered in adaptation and employment.
The business centre will provide business training courses and students will join after expert analysis of their capacity and preferences. Seminars and other forms of training as well as relevant information to potential employers will be available.
“Such a centre is necessary because people with disabilities face social barriers, which impede their adaptation and employment,” Georgieva said.
People put in an unequal position often do not succeed in putting their potential to use due to prejudice among employers and employees. Rather than relying on social benefits and charity, the disabled will be encouraged to do business.
The business centre is now busy establishing itself in conjunction with 600 other organisations working in the field.
In order to provide adequate support to entrepreneurs from this social group, the centre has to be well integrated in the social environment, and most of the representative organisations promoting the social welfare of the disabled have offices in many parts of the country. Three such facilities with job centres in Sofia, Rousse and Stara Zagora provide rehabilitation and social integration for disabled people. Similar services are available at the Saint George Centre in the coastal town of Pomorie and the Municipal Daycare Centre for Disabled People in Sofia.
According to Georgieva, Varna was selected for the project on the basis of several criteria, such as the number of disabled persons in the city and the receptivity of the business environment.
She said that the availability of a suitable building to house the facility and the activity of local NGOs have also assisted in the success of the project. About 3.6 per cent of the city’s residents have disabilities, according to data released by the Union of Disabled People in Bulgaria.
Disabled people aged 16 or over total 233 709, including 119 467 men and 114 242 women in Bulgaria. About 145 813 of them live in urban centres and 87 896 in rural areas. Approximately 8 800 in 2000 and 10 700 in 2001 disabled people have registered at job centres, and the unemployment rate among them is higher for those with a poorer educational background.
Most of the unemployed disabled people are concentrated in Bourgas, Varna, Montana, Rousse and Lovech.
The latest population census shows that the proportion of disabled persons within the overall population is highest in Shumen (5.1 per cent), Lovech (4.8 per cent), Montana (4.7 per cent), and Gabrovo (4.1 per cent). The average rate in the country is 3.3 per cent.
According to Alexandra Georgieva, in charge of EU pre-accession funds and international programmes at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the project, implemented under EU Phare 2001, is to be completed next year to deal with the issues of disabled people hampered in adaptation and employment.
The business centre will provide business training courses and students will join after expert analysis of their capacity and preferences. Seminars and other forms of training as well as relevant information to potential employers will be available.
“Such a centre is necessary because people with disabilities face social barriers, which impede their adaptation and employment,” Georgieva said.
People put in an unequal position often do not succeed in putting their potential to use due to prejudice among employers and employees. Rather than relying on social benefits and charity, the disabled will be encouraged to do business.
The business centre is now busy establishing itself in conjunction with 600 other organisations working in the field.
In order to provide adequate support to entrepreneurs from this social group, the centre has to be well integrated in the social environment, and most of the representative organisations promoting the social welfare of the disabled have offices in many parts of the country. Three such facilities with job centres in Sofia, Rousse and Stara Zagora provide rehabilitation and social integration for disabled people. Similar services are available at the Saint George Centre in the coastal town of Pomorie and the Municipal Daycare Centre for Disabled People in Sofia.
According to Georgieva, Varna was selected for the project on the basis of several criteria, such as the number of disabled persons in the city and the receptivity of the business environment.
She said that the availability of a suitable building to house the facility and the activity of local NGOs have also assisted in the success of the project. About 3.6 per cent of the city’s residents have disabilities, according to data released by the Union of Disabled People in Bulgaria.
Disabled people aged 16 or over total 233 709, including 119 467 men and 114 242 women in Bulgaria. About 145 813 of them live in urban centres and 87 896 in rural areas. Approximately 8 800 in 2000 and 10 700 in 2001 disabled people have registered at job centres, and the unemployment rate among them is higher for those with a poorer educational background.
Most of the unemployed disabled people are concentrated in Bourgas, Varna, Montana, Rousse and Lovech.
The latest population census shows that the proportion of disabled persons within the overall population is highest in Shumen (5.1 per cent), Lovech (4.8 per cent), Montana (4.7 per cent), and Gabrovo (4.1 per cent). The average rate in the country is 3.3 per cent.
