Deputy Minister of Economy and Labor, Marjan Risteski, today addressed a trilateral conference "STRENGHTENED - Development of Policies for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities" organized by the Association "Institute for Community Development", in cooperation with the German Association Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund for Southeast Europe, Preda Plus Foundation and ADRF (Albanian Disability Rights Foundation).
The conference was attended by representatives from North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo from the civil society sector, national and local authorities, representatives of the private sector and international bodies, where opportunities for strengthening cooperation for the comprehensive and substantive inclusion of persons with disabilities in society were discussed.
In his address, Deputy Minister Risteski referred to the policies and measures implemented by the Ministry of Economy and Labor to support the employment of persons with disabilities, and the main activities are implemented through the Operational Plan for Active Programs and Measures for Employment and Services on the Labor Market.
- The Operational Plan is a comprehensive document where its basic principles are the principles of diversity and inclusiveness in accordance with the principles of fair and adequate representation, within the framework of the standards and practices of the United Nations and the International Labor Organization. Through this operational plan we offer several measures, and the most important is the measure "Support for the employment of persons with disabilities" where every year we allocate financial resources to support the employment of persons with disabilities, adaptation of workplaces and procurement of equipment to facilitate their performance of work tasks, and many other measures - said Risteski.
Deputy Minister Risteski added that key principles in creating national policies must be fairness and inclusiveness, because only in this way will we create a society and economy that provide equal opportunities, fair working conditions, as well as easier access to the labor market for all.
