News

Empowerment, Diversity and Vocational Integration

November 2007

A Policy Forum to be held in Belfast, on 29 and 30 November 2007, will be a real encounter between all the key actors on the integration pathway. The beneficiaries of EQUAL are where the path begins. Then along the route, they encounter the bridge-builders of different kinds, varying from sheltered workshops, to social security bodies, employment services, careers agencies and training providers and, of course, the decision makers who control the policies of such agencies. Finally, at the end there are the employers who can guarantee a successful conclusion to the beneficiaries' journey by offering them a job.

EQUAL has been active in preparing people with disabilities for future employment

This Policy Forum which is co-funded by the European Commission will be hosted by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) in Northern Ireland. It aims to provide a unique opportunity to share the lessons of EQUAL and to identify innovative and effective approaches that will enable disadvantaged groups to overcome inequalities in employment. It will also be an occasion at which key stakeholders, beneficiaries, employers, policy makers and NGO's, can discuss their particular policy needs and begin to influence the direction of future strategy. Dr John Neill, the Head of DEL's European Unit, believes that "the sharing of experience among transnational peers has the potential to inspire new and improved polices to combat common inequalities in the labour market throughout individual Member States." However, John recognises that "managing the debate at the Policy Forum could be something of a challenge because some of the concepts and ideas that we will discuss might provoke very different reactions and responses."

For example, the overarching theme of the event is empowerment, which is often regarded as simply being a buzz word and one that does not even translate easily into many European languages. It is also a concept which practitioners and policy makers treat with suspicion - the former see empowerment as a threat to their professional status and the latter see it as a challenge to their positions of power. However when it has been used effectively, empowerment has proved to be one of the most successful approaches in promoting the inclusion and integration of the most disadvantaged groups and EQUAL has been able to measure and transfer this approach.

A slogan that has emerged from EQUAL's empowerment activities is "nothing about us without us" and EQUAL has tackled a major problem in this respect. This is the fact that, although many professionals and integration service providers agree with this principle in theory, they very rarely apply it to their own work. Thus, a guideline for empowering quality models has been produced that assesses the extent to which an integration service's quality policy is empowering and provides pointers as to how it can change by taking a much greater account of its users' interests and views. In the same spirit, this Policy Forum will be as inclusive and interactive as possible because, as DEL's Permanent Secretary, Dr Aideen McGinley puts it, "if you tell me I will forget: and if you show me I may not remember - but if you involve me I will understand!"

Roma Women are just one of the groupings that have been empowered by EQUAL

The second theme to be tackled over the two days of the Policy Forum is diversity. There is a common misconception about diversity, which is also shared by employers, and this is that only certain people or groups are included under its umbrella, when in fact the opposite is true. However, on the basis of EQUAL's experience, diversity needs managing, as it can sometimes have the effect of pushing an employer outside his or her own comfort zone. This is a very important point because in most instances EQUAL has tried to do more than simply getting people from their target groups into a job. There has been a very real attempt to engender a change in the culture of companies and organisations so that it is possible to create sustainable employment and also open up other employment opportunities in the future. Thus, during the Policy Forum the employers' representatives will be presented with sound reasons for having and hiring a diverse workforce, which have been developed from EQUAL's good practices.

A Background Paper for the Policy Forum outlines EQUAL experiences in empowering vulnerable groups, working with employers and building bridges through the work of all the agencies involved in the integration process:
Attendance is by invitation only, but if you would like more information about the Policy Forum, please e-mail pat.donnelly@proteus-ni.org or brita.terpe@proteus-ni.org

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News Empowerment, Diversity and Vocational Integration November 2007 A Policy Forum to be held in Belfast, on 29 and 30 November 2007, will be a real encounter between all the key actors on the integration pathway. The beneficiaries of EQUAL are where the path begins. Then along the route, they encounter the bridge-builders of different kinds, varying from sheltered workshops, to social security bodies, employment services, careers agencies and training providers and, of course, the decision makers who control the policies of such agencies. Finally, at the end there are the employers who can guarantee a successful conclusion to the beneficiaries' journey by offering them a job. EQUAL has been active in preparing people with disabilities for future employment This Policy Forum which is co-funded by the European Commission will be hosted by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) in Northern Ireland. It aims to provide a unique opportunity to share the lessons of EQUAL and to identify innovative and effective approaches that will enable disadvantaged groups to overcome inequalities in employment. It will also be an occasion at which key stakeholders, beneficiaries, employers, policy makers and NGO's, can discuss their particular policy needs and begin to influence the direction of future strategy. Dr John Neill, the Head of DEL's European Unit, believes that "the sharing of experience among transnational peers has the potential to inspire new and improved polices to combat common inequalities in the labour market throughout individual Member States." However, John recognises that "managing the debate at the Policy Forum could be something of a challenge because some of the concepts and ideas that we will discuss might provoke very different reactions and responses." For example, the overarching theme of the event is empowerment, which is often regarded as simply being a buzz word and one that does not even translate easily into many European languages. It is also a concept which practitioners and policy makers treat with suspicion - the former see empowerment as a threat to their professional status and the latter see it as a challenge to their positions of power. However when it has been used effectively, empowerment has proved to be one of the most successful approaches in promoting the inclusion and integration of the most disadvantaged groups and EQUAL has been able to measure and transfer this approach. A slogan that has emerged from EQUAL's empowerment activities is "nothing about us without us" and EQUAL has tackled a major problem in this respect. This is the fact that, although many professionals and integration service providers agree with this principle in theory, they very rarely apply it to their own work. Thus, a guideline for empowering quality models has been produced that assesses the extent to which an integration service's quality policy is empowering and provides pointers as to how it can change by taking a much greater account of its users' interests and views. In the same spirit, this Policy Forum will be as inclusive and interactive as possible because, as DEL's Permanent Secretary, Dr Aideen McGinley puts it, "if you tell me I will forget: and if you show me I may not remember - but if you involve me I will understand!" Roma Women are just one of the groupings that have been empowered by EQUAL The second theme to be tackled over the two days of the Policy Forum is diversity. There is a common misconception about diversity, which is also shared by employers, and this is that only certain people or groups are included under its umbrella, when in fact the opposite is true. However, on the basis of EQUAL's experience, diversity needs managing, as it can sometimes have the effect of pushing an employer outside his or her own comfort zone. This is a very important point because in most instances EQUAL has tried to do more than simply getting people from their target groups into a job. There has been a very real attempt to engender a change in the culture of companies and organisations so that it is possible to create sustainable employment and also open up other employment opportunities in the future. Thus, during the Policy Forum the employers' representatives will be presented with sound reasons for having and hiring a diverse workforce, which have been developed from EQUAL's good practices. A Background Paper for the Policy Forum outlines EQUAL experiences in empowering vulnerable groups, working with employers and building bridges through the work of all the agencies involved in the integration process: Attendance is by invitation only, but if you would like more information about the Policy Forum, please e-mail pat.donnelly@proteus-ni.org or brita.terpe@proteus-ni.org Top	Home page Activities & results How does EQUAL work? EQUAL in the Member States News All news Newsletter Useful links

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