Equal themes
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A thematic approach
Equal in Great Britain operates in thematic fields defined in the context of the four pillars of the European Employment Strategy (EES):
- employability
- entrepreneurship
- adaptability
- equal opportunities
In addition to these themes, the programme supports a further theme of activities to help the social and vocational integration of asylum seekers.
Throughout those themes the strategy for Equal aims to:
- ensure that activities principally benefit those subject to the main forms of discrimination and inequality and each thematic field will be fully accessible to all such groups
- ensure that the promotion of equality between women and men is integral to the thematic fields in all four pillars as well as being targeted through specific actions in the fourth pillar
- the ideal of improving the supply of and demand for quality jobs with a future
- encourage the effective use of existing mechanisms (for example those that exist for social dialogue) to improve awareness of the factors leading to discrimination, inequality and exclusion in connection with the labour market.
The nine Equal themes
EES pillar 1: Employability
Theme A
Facilitating access and return to the labour market for those who have difficulty in being integrated or re-integrated into a labour market which must be open to all.
Theme B
Opportunities to promote potential for ethnic minorities within the world of work.
EES pillar 2: Entrepreneurship
Theme C
Opening up the business creation process to all by providing the tools required for setting up in business and for the identification and exploitation of new possibilities for creating employment in urban and rural areas.
Theme D
Strengthening the social economy (the third sector), in particular the services of interest to the community, with a focus on improving the quality of jobs.
EES pillar 3: Adaptability
Theme E
Promoting lifelong learning and inclusive work practices which encourage the recruitment and retention of those suffering discrimination and inequality in connection with the labour market.
Theme F
Supporting adaptability of firms and employees to structural economic change and the use of information technology and other new technologies.
EES pillar 4: Equal opportunities
Theme G
Reconciling family and professional life, as well as the re-integration of men and women who have left the labour market, by developing more flexible and effective forms of work organisation and support services.
The GB programme is not taking part in theme G. Actions related to work/life balance have been included in the Adaptability pillar (themes E and F) and issues related to access to employment should be covered by the Employability pillar (themes A and B).
Theme H
Promoting gender equality in the work place, reducing gender gaps and supporting job desegregation.
Asylum seekers
Theme I
Helping the integration of asylum seekers. Depending on the official status of the asylum seeker—an extremely complex area, with variations between Member States—assistance may be for new ways of helping to access the labour market, or to provide training for unsuccessful asylum seekers prior to their leaving the country.
