PR 1657 26.07.2012
The Government and its Agencies are committed to generate more work and training opportunities for everyone especially for persons with disability. In the past years, the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Aaenzija Sapport and the ETC, implemented various training programmes and created employment opportunities for persons with disability in collaboration with private and public entities.
Details were given by the Minister for Justice, Dialogue and the Family, Chris Said, while visiting the offices of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) where he met Bianca Bugeja – a person with disability who has just finished a job exposure experience with the NCPE. Bianca Bugeja is a beneficiary of the Me2 project, a project co-financed by the European Social Fund and led by Aaenzija Sapport in collaboration with ETC and KNPD. Bianca is also a member of the Me2 Cooperative which was launched recently.
Minister Chris Said also referred to the Me2 project being led by the Foundation for Social Welfare Services and explained how the results achieved by the project are higher than the double of the targets, with 430 persons with disability having benefited from the project. Moreover, a cooperative for persons with disability has been set up as a direct result of the project, and today this cooperative is offering training and job opportunities for persons with disability and it is being commissioned to render its services both by private and public entities.
Mr. Stephen Vella, Me2 Project Leader, said that every entity in Malta should ask itself whether it is ready to face this challenge. Mr. Vella explained that job exposure is a temporary training period where the person with disability gains additional skills. The entity that provides this experience is not obliged to keep the person in employment. He emphasised that thanks to these positive experiences, other persons like Bianca are acquiring the necessary experience, so that when the job exposure ends, they would be in a better position to find employment and be competitive within the workforce.
Bianca Bugeja benefited from training offered by the Me2 project which consisted of sessions regarding communication skills, boundaries, budgeting, harassment, and support structures, amongst others. Bianca has also benefited from the said job exposure for a year thanks to the same project. She offered a service to the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality where she carried out secretarial duties such as scanning, printing and filing. Bianca also benefited from the ETC Work Trial Scheme for three months.
Also present for this visit where Mr. Joseph Cini, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Foundation for Social Welfare Services; and Dr. Romina Bartolo, Executive Director of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality.
Companies interested in contacting the Me2 Cooperative for work opportunities can call on 2788 5110 or refer to the Cooperative’s offices in Imtarfa. More details are also available on the websites www.sapport.gov.mt [1] and http://me2coop.sharepoint.com [2].
Aaenzija Sapport is part of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (www.fsws.gov.mt [3]) that also incorporates Aaenzija Sedqa (www.sedqa.gov.mt [4]) and Aaenzija Appoaa (www.appogg.gov.mt [5]).