SEMINAR « Inclusive Employment » Vientiane, 7 – 11 October 2013 Who I am ?Who I am ? My name is Lorenzo Villa. I am from Italy, almost 41 yrs old, married and soon to become father. I spent half of my professional career in finance and the other (and better) half managing various projects for HI, especially in the field of socio-economic inclusion. I am currently the regional coordinator of the multi-country project Decent Work and Social Protection for people with disabilities, which is implemented in China, Vietnam and Laos. I am an expert / specialist in …..project management, financial management and economic inclusion of people with disabilitiesI am an expert / specialist in …..project management, financial management and economic inclusion of people with disabilities. PS:…..the picture was taken in my better days……

To which question would you like this seminar to answer? –To what extent can we apply the concept of decent work to informal self-employment? –Are there any HI project that focus on improving the economic resiliency of people with disability already engaged in informal small businesses. How? –Mainstream VT services: besides removing barriers to inclusion of people with disability, are there any HI projects who focus on improving the quality of VT? How? –How can we support access to wage employment, when lack of education and lack of mobility seem to be the most frequent and insurmountable barriers for people with disability? –Examples of successful advocacy actions to authorities and policy makers within HI’s inclusive employment projects; what tangible results? SEMINAR « Inclusive Employment » Vientiane, 7 – 11 October 2013

What are the main challenges / stakes for the future in inclusive employment project ? –Increasing participation of people with disability into wage employment opportunities within the formal economy –Make HI’s interventions more sustainable: make PSA more cost-effective, avoid dependency on HI, engaging local actors in service delivery, linking HI’s support services to formal policies and programs –Keep the issue of inclusive employment on governments and international organizations’ agendas (progressive disengagement of ILO) –Engage in longer and more focused programs. SEMINAR « Inclusive Employment » Vientiane, 7 – 11 October 2013