In the coming year, Disability Hub Europe will continue working to promote inclusive, sustainable and just work environments. As we wind down this year, we want to take a moment to recap some of the advances achieved this 2022 and that will serve as a springboard for a busy 2023

We begin a new year full of opportunities and challenges in terms of Diversity and Inclusion. And, in order to continue advancing, it is important and necessary to look back and reflect upon the path traveled in order to, in this way, keep in mind the one that still remains to be traveled. At Disability Hub Europe, we are convinced that the workplace is decisive context for promoting social change. Organizations have an important capacity and expectation for enacting social change and therefore, the responsibility falls on them to highlight and promote full and meaningful inclusion for persons with disabilities. Despite the current economic crisis, Covid-19 has brought about important and significant changes to way organizations and companies operate. A growing number have understood that they will not be able to be sustainable if they do not make a firm and lasting commitment to society by reinforcing their social responsibility policies and their diversity strategies as a way  to promote equity and inclusion and leave no one behind in the important transformations underway in the global economy.

It is necessary to appeal to the joint and coordinated action of both the public and private sectors, since active employment policies are an essential means to empower the most difficult to serve unemployed, by, among other things. enhancing their digital skills in order to facilitate their access to the labor market. On the other hand, diversity, equity and inclusion strategies are essential to transcend the mere legal obligation to incorporate people with disabilities and transform it into an opportunity to capture untapped talent that generates excellence and enhances business competitiveness. Today, approaches to sustainability are values that must remain at the forefront of all company initiatives, regardless of market uncertainty.

Disability Hub Europe will continue working to promote inclusive, sustainable and fair business and organizational practices. We want to take this opportunity to acknowledge some of the main milestones achieved in 2022 and that lay the groundwork for ambitious goals planned for 2023.

• Publication of the “2030 Agenda, the SDGs and disability”, a document that highlights the linkages between SDGs and promoting the integration of persons with disabilities, reminding us that it is necessary to redouble efforts to guarantee a sustainable and inclusive society that leaves no one behind. Framed in the context of the seventh anniversary of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, the document was elaborated by the ONCE Foundation and the European Disability Forum in the context of the Disability Hub Europe initiative.

• Statement on the International Day of Disability, prepared in collaboration with GRI, stressing the role of new global sustainability reporting standards in affirming the growing importance of the social dimension in sustainability with a special focus on increased efforts to promote the inclusion and integration of persons with disabilities.

• Inclusion of Disability Hub Europe in the collaborative ecosystem highlighted within the Business for Just Transition report, recently launched by CSR Europe. The report features various initiatives, tools and frameworks for ensuring the business include the social dimension of sustainability as they navigate the transition to a green economy. Among the initiatives included, DHUB is featured as multi-sectoral  network promoting equality and inclusion of people with disabilities.

• Celebration of the DHUB 2022 Steering committee meeting which gathered the initiative’s core partners to highlight the network’s achievements to date and plan and aligned upcoming activities to further Disability Hub Europe´s agenda for making disability a central issue in the sustainability agenda moving forward.