This Knowledge brief is part of the Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE) Knowledge Brief series focusing on the design and implementation of youth employment programs. This brief builds on S4YE’s 2021 Discussion Note, Digital Jobs for Youth with Disabilities, highlighting strategies that programs have used to overcome challenges and increase access for youth with disabilities in digital job opportunities
In this Knowledge Brief, we examine strategies the World Bank’s Promoting Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Social Protection and Employment Programs project team in Haiti adopted to improve access of persons with disabilities to employment services in Haiti. The main project activities were to:
1) Develop a disability module to register persons with disability in the national social registry, and 2) Pilot and promote a skills training model to increase labor market access for persons with disabilities. This component also included capacity-building workshops for increasing private sector involvement, national awareness events and job fairs.
The key lessons learned by the team include 1) Focusing on demand-driven skills helped design effective training modules, 2) Working with mainstream training providers to adjust their services can broaden opportunities for persons with disabilities, 3) Proactive outreach and multi-mode communications strategy to identify and engage with employers and human resource departments was effective, and 4) Training programs in difficult contexts should be accompanied with business development activities.
