Foreword
by EBU President

Employment is one of EBU's greatest concerns. Whereas the employment rate of non-disabled people in Europe is 66 %, that of blind and partially sighted people is only 25 %. This has a devastating impact on the lives of blind and partially sighted people through the effect the inability to earn has on their standard of living and sense of dignity and self-worth.

To address this situation, EBU believes that a twin-track approach is needed, that is to say that blind and partially sighted people should be able to work both in ordinary (mainstream) jobs and in specialised settings with specialist support. More specifically, we believe in an Employment Continuum - a continuum of opportunities to meet the differing needs of blind and partially sighted people, from full inclusion in mainstream work settings and jobs to a variety of forms of supported employment. This requires a range of policies to be in place, such as legislation prohibiting discrimination against disabled people in or in gaining access to employment; measures to combat discriminatory attitudes on the part of employers; reasonable accommodation to eliminate barriers facing blind and partially sighted people in mainstream work settings; measures to help those who become disabled during their working life retain their job, such as disability leave to enable a person to undertake retraining or rehabilitation, job redesign or assignment to alternative work; quota schemes requiring employers to employ a certain proportion of disabled people; and various forms of supported employment which enable blind and partially sighted people to work who may not be able to work the normal hours for the standard rate of pay.

We believe that a full range of opportunities for blind and partially sighted people will only be made available through such measures of positive action as well as non-discrimination. Our approach exemplifies the principles endorsed by the Madrid Declaration approved at the European Congress on Disability held in Madrid in 2002. This may be summed up in the phrase "Non-discrimination plus positive action results in social inclusion.


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