DPO federation running a business sector-encouragement programme

COCEMFE encourages and supports companies to include people with disabilities among their relevant stakeholders as suppliers, customers, and competent professionals, and therefore to go beyond inclusive recruitment and CSR. Since 2018, 161 such agreements have been signed with companies.

The Spanish Confederation of People with Physical and Organic Disabilities (COCEMFE) is an umbrella organization of 91 Spanish disability organizations based in Madrid. COCEMFE and its members run 81 employment services in Spain. In 2018 the organization started an inclusive business initiative, raising awareness, providing support to companies to become more inclusive, and connecting them to jobseekers with disabilities. By 2020, 161 companies had committed to adopt inclusive business practices.

Problems Targeted

Private-sector companies often lack the knowledge, confidence, and guidance to comprehensively implement inclusive business practices.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

COCEMFE encourages companies to engage with persons with disabilities as suppliers, customers, and employees. Its employment services have set up ‘employment antennae’ in ten regions to work directly with companies to provide consultancy and advice on inclusion, and to link them to qualified jobseekers. They also work with companies to create an ‘inclusion potential report’, which analyses a company’s policies, technology, workplace, etc., and they support the company to implement an inclusion action plan. COCEMFE has produced guides for inclusive businesses on topics such as inclusive recruitment, diversity management, developing disability-inclusive corporate social responsibility, and sustainability action plans. From 2018 to 2020 more than 8,100 companies have been reached through this work. To date, 161 companies have signed a cooperation agreement with COCEMFE, and 38 inclusion potential reports have been produced. Employment services have supported 4,399 people with disabilities to secure a job.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

In 2019 the project budget was €64,250, with 70 per cent funded by the Ministry of Labour and 30 per cent self-financed by COCEMFE. COCEMFE wants to create a network of at least 1,000 companies committed to inclusion. It plans to scale with partners in Europe through Disabled Persons’ International (DPI) Europe, and in Latin America through the Ibero-American Network of Organisations for People with Physical Disabilities (La RED). Inclusive employment service providers in other countries could easily replicate the practice, as long as materials and tools are adapted to the local language and social and legal contexts.

Pictures

An administrator discusses work with a colleague at FormaVigo, one of COCEMFE’s partner companies.

Select this picture Select this picture