Belgrade, 11 October 2022 – With the support by the Government of Serbia, and in partnership with the Youth with Disabilities Forum, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have awarded today the certificates of successful completion to 23 participants in the second cycle of IT Retraining for Persons with Disabilities.

During the ceremony, Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, Prof Dr Darija Kisić reminded that, since 2017, when this programme was initiated by the Government of Serbia, the IT retraining has been attended by more than 2200 participants.

“In order to provide equal opportunities to all and enable them to find their place in the growing IT sector, three years ago, Serbian Government initiated the first programme of IT retraining developed for persons with disabilities. In its two cycles of realisation, this programme was attended by 38 persons with disabilities, that now have a chance to be employed in this dynamic sector and show what they know and can do, and we all know that they are more than capable once we give them a chance,” said Prof Dr Kisić.

“UNDP will continue, in partnership with the Serbian government, to improve the position of persons with disabilities and help their equal participation in the process of digitalisation, which includes their access to education and labour market. The digital transformation may accelerate the attainment of all Sustainable Development Goals, but only if we secure that all have equal benefit from the progress it entails,” said Anas Qarman, UNDP Deputy Representative in Serbia. 

Since April 2021, the second cycle of the IT Retraining for Persons with Disabilities was successfully finished by 7 women and 16 men. They mastered 6 programming languages (Wordpress, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, React and GIT), which would enable them to find employment and independently work as programmers in development of websites and applications. In addition to that, due to education in “soft” skills, the participants learned the best ways to present themselves to their prospective employers when applying for jobs and in job interviews. Twenty of them also completed one-month practical trainings in IT companies.

The goal of the involvement of persons with disabilities in the IT retraining programme is to enable all members of the society to acquire digital knowledge and skills, as well as to contribute to the creation of digital products and services adjusted to the needs of any individual, so that no one would be excluded. This programme contributes to an increased number of men and women with disabilities being employed in the IT sector, which has positive impact on their economic position, simultaneously responding to the needs for workforce in the fastest growing field of Serbian economy.

The IT Retraining for Persons with Disabilities programme has been organised as a part of the initiative “Serbia at Your Fingertips – Digital Transformation for Development”, implemented by UNDP with the support of the Office for Information Technology and e-Government, and in partnership with the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs.