["Supported employment": equal opportunity for severely handicapped men and women]

This article examines the "supported employment" approach, which tries systematically to integrate severely disabled men and women into the open labour market. After describing the target population, we shall outline the specific support required, along with the benefits, risks and problems involved. Examples from a few industrialized countries, demonstrating the viability of training and employing severely disabled people, will illustrate the new approach. The activities described in this article are inn line with the goals of the ILO Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Recommendation, 1983 (No. 168), which calls for "research and the possible application of its results to various types of disability in order to further the participation of disabled persons in ordinary working life".