CONTEXT & BACKGROUND NEEDS: Important tendency, marked in various reports of EU27, which led to the establishment of the project, is that by 2050 the number of physically disabled adults in Europe will have doubled to 40% of the total population or 60% of the age of youth (16-29) population. The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) recognizes in Article 27 “the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others; this includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities”. Disability statistics collected by Eurostat (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Disability_statistics) are showing the following common gap on EU level in terms of provision of guidance services towards successful employment of youth with disabilities (aged 16-29): - behaviour of the colleagues and environmental factors - long standing health conditions which are not allowing to work - lack of suitable job opportunities - 30% average for Europe (higher for countries like Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey) - lack of experience (lack of internship, mentoring initiatives or any kind of gained work experience) - lack of flexibility of the employers and the work conditions TRANSNATIONALITY: Based on above EU-wide report it is evident that the biggest LACK/GAP of non-formal work experience actions are in Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, however Italy has a good experience and know-how to share under this proposal. TARGET GROUPS: Youth mentors, youth workers, youth career counsellors (even on non-formal base at NGOs and students' councils) BENEFICIARIES from the services: youth with disabilities (aged 16-29), families of people with disabilities, non-formal settlements of people with disabilities, educations institutions (secondary, tertiary and VET levels). OUR SOLUTION & METHODOLOGY: Youth peer mentoring is the process of matching peer mentors (selected among the same age of their mentee) with young people with disabilities (PwD) who need to gain real work experience. This special and novel form of mentoring is providing a role model that can serve as a good practice example by the mentee. This goal can be accomplished through structured non-formal communication, mentoring which this proposal intends to implement - a mobile application for peer mentoring implementation for Android device. In this setting, a young peer mentor (trained by youth workers) meet the youth with disability at educational environment to ensure transition to workplace. This will be a one-on-one peer support including virtual sessions which will capture the difficulties for those with mobility impairments which are disabled by the chances to move due to inaccessibility of the environment (resource Eurostat). During one-to-one peer mentoring the youth with disability is able to build self-confidence and social skills while also learning work habits, team work and communication with colleagues as well as gaining professional competencies. PROPOSAL'S AIMS & OBJECTIVES: - Developing novel youth peer mentoring pedagogy which will be used by youth workers to train youth peer mentors to support PwD - Developing training tools and mobile app for distance peer mentoring guidance for youth mentors and youth mentees with disabilities - Strengthening collaboration among youth organisations, local authorities, chambers o f commerce, universities, NGOs and SMEs and organizations devoted to support employment of youth with disabilities - Fighting against social isolation and stigmatization towards PwD - To open new horizons for the efficient use of free time of youth. PLANNED INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS are: IO1: Youth Peer Mentors Pedagogy Framework IO2: Job inclusion guidebook for young mentors IO3: Impact assessment youth peer mentoring tool IO4: Mobile youth peer mentoring application to facilitate distance mentoring guidance for youth with disabilities (Android based) PARTNERSHIP: The project has 7 partner organizations form 4 counties (Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania) - two universities, one educational authority, one ministry of labour and social affairs, one NGO of academicians and mentors of people with disabilities, one career counselling company, one national youth council. All participating institutions represent various forms of activities connected with application of mentoring and non-formal education. EU DIMENSION & PRIORITIES: The proposal is addressing two Youth priorities as stated in section C and one horizontal for Erasmus + programme. In addition it is reflecting on Council Resolution on a renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (2010-2018) - EU Youth Strategy and specifically the policy recommendations of the latest EU Youth report.
CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT: This project was conducted successfully as a response to the important tendency, marked in various reports of EU28 that by 2050 the number of physically disabled adults in Europe will have doubled to 40% of the total population or 60% of the age of youth (16-29) population. This project offered a unique opportunity for young people with disabilities to participate in peer mentoring activities. Youth peer mentoring is the process of matching peer mentors (selected among the same age of their mentee) with young people with disabilities who need to gain real work experience. This special and novel form of mentoring is providing a role model that can serve as a good practice example by the mentee. This goal has been accomplished through structured non-formal communication, mentoring which this project has implemented via a mobile application for peer mentoring implementation for Android device. In this setting, a young peer mentor (trained by youth workers) met the youth with disability at educational environment to ensure transition to workplace. This was conducted in the form of a one-on-one peer support including virtual sessions which captured the difficulties for those with mobility impairments which are disabled by the chances to move due to inaccessibility of the environment. During one-to-one peer mentoring the youth with disabilities were able to build self-confidence and social skills while also learning work habits, team work and communication with colleagues as well as gaining professional competencies. REACHED AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: - Developed novel youth peer mentoring pedagogy which was used by youth workers to train youth peer mentors to support youth with disabilities - Developed training tools and mobile app for distance peer mentoring guidance for youth mentors and youth mentees with disabilities - Strengthened collaboration among youth organisations, local authorities, chambers o f commerce, universities, NGOs and SMEs and organizations devoted to support employment of youth with disabilities - Fighting against social isolation and stigmatization towards people with disabilities - Opens new horizons for the efficient use of free time of youth. DEVELOPED INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS are: IO1: Youth Peer Mentors Pedagogy Framework - The guide consists of definition and concept of Youth Peer Mentor’s Framework, explanation with regards to the main principles of mentoring and with an introduction to the youth peer mentoring process. IO2: Job inclusion guidebook for young mentors - This guide served as a primary resource for individuals designing mentoring programs for youth, including youth with disabilities, in the transition phase to adulthood. IO3: Impact assessment youth peer mentoring tool - This guide presents the possibilities of assessing a project or programme, namely whether and to what extent the different objectives of the project have been achieved. Such assessment is considered as an evaluation of the project. IO4: Mobile youth peer mentoring application to facilitate distance mentoring guidance for youth with disabilities (Android based) - it allows distance youth peer mentoring communication in a safe environment. The mobile application ensured that people with different disabilities can all interact with the mobile application, using the supported Android assistive technologies. The mobile application is available in English, Bulgarian, Turkish and Romanian at Google play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mypeermentor.mobile All outputs are available in English, Bulgarian, Turkish and Romanian languages at project website: https://www.mypeermentor.eu/intellectual-outputs and also uploaded onto Erasmus+ results platform. PARTICIPANTS IN PILOT IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT: In the youth mentoring process overall 351 people have participated - 172 mentors and 179 mentees with disabilities (Turkey 114 Mentors and 113 Mentees; Bulgaria: 22 Mentors and 32 Mentees; Romania: 36 mentors and 34 mentees). REACHED IMPACT: Young mentors and mentees said that through this mentoring program they improved their personal qualities, soft skills and interpersonal skills. This peer mentoring program demonstrated a positive impact on the life of Turkish, Bulgarian and Romanian young people involved in the project, both mentors and mentees. Young mentors have understood the problems of young people with disabilities and have learned how to guide and to help them. The mentors encouraged and supported young mentees in their academic and other needs and goals for their growth. In general we may conclude that the pilot phase was finalized successfully and the indicators listed in the pilot plan were reached. Based on the feedback and comments we may conclude that MyPeerMentor outputs are useful, well structured, comprehensive and practically oriented.