At times of crisis, where employment is a concern for everyone, how can regions promote the inclusion of people with disabilities into professional life? This was the question raised by the Conference on the Employment of Persons with disabilities organised by EASPD (European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities) on September 27th in Istanbul.

AER President Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli and Metin Genc, Vice-President of the AER Social Policy and Public Health Committee delivered the regions’ perspective in the opening of the conference: experience from AER regions shows that there is still a general lack of awareness of the challenges faced by people with disabilities and a perception issue.

Therefore, the first mission of a network such as AER is to raise awareness on the existence of the UN Convention and on its significance for regional authorities and our citizens. Moreover, regions can act as labs for tomorrow: they can test solutions and see what works and what doesn’t. Our network can give resonance to the solutions that work. And this is what we do!