Today, in the multimedia hall of the kindergarten Vrtuljak in Marčana, the initial conference of the project “Development and support for the development of sustainable models of employment of vulnerable groups in the Urban area of Pula” was held. The theme of the conference was the employment of vulnerable groups. The conference was held in a hybrid form – live and on the Zoom platform with a live broadcast on the FB page of the Istra Foundation. The conference was attended by the Mayor of Marčana Predrag Pliško, and the Head of the Department for Social Activities, Economy and Projects Jakov Benazić with representatives of partner organizations from southern Istria – Association of the Blind of Istria, Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing of Istria, Association of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Society multiple sclerosis of the County of Istria and the Association of Cerebral Palsy of the County of Istria and the Foundation for Partnership and Civil Society Development.
The project “Development and support for the development of sustainable employment models for vulnerable groups in the Urban area of Pula” totalling HRK 2,201,232.00 aims to increase the employability of vulnerable groups, and special attention will be paid to reducing discrimination as it is recognized as a serious obstacle for the social inclusion of vulnerable groups, especially through employment.
After introductory speeches and greetings, the conference addressed the challenges of employment of the blind population, the President of the Association of the Blind of Istria County Zlatko Kuftić presented the employment of blind people while Katja Meden presented employment opportunities within the Project. After that, the specifics of the employment of deaf people were presented, the secretary of the Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing of the Istrian County Alma Zulim presented the everyday problems and misunderstanding of the public that people with hearing impairments face. Guests of the public forum – “Experience of employment of persons with disabilities” were Danijela Maružin, owner of the social enterprise Punkt, Mirjana Radulović, representative of the Rojc Alliance, Višnja Popović, director of the School for Upbringing and Education Pula and Zuzana Hoti Radolović, secretary of the Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities. Valuable experiences of recruiting or participating in the recruitment process of vulnerable groups could be heard during the panel discussion. Finally, Višnja Rakin from the Center for Vocational Rehabilitation Rijeka gave a presentation on the role of the Center in the employment of people with disabilities. During this conference, public discourse on the topic and issues was stimulated, new challenges were revealed, and new opportunities for employment of vulnerable groups in the urban area of Pula.
The project is fully funded by the European Social Fund through the Operational Program Efficient Human Resources, and within the Integrated Territorial Investment (ITU mechanism) for the Urban Area of Pula.