The Employment For Independence Life (EFIL) project aims to develop an employment model for people with intellectual disabilities in line with several European countries for Turkey.

It is planned by the Governor of Eskişehir and the Provincial Directorate of National Education and is implemented by Anadolu University. The main goal is to remove the barriers to employment of people with disabilities in the areas of job placement, job preparation, job development, workplace rules, workplace communication and interaction, and work adaptation. While physically disabled, visually impaired, and hearing impaired people are more easily employed, there are still difficulties in employing mentally disabled people. EFIL aims to remove these barriers and create an effective model specifically for people with intellectual disabilities to enable them to participate in the workforce.

Partners in this project are Turkey as the leading partner (represented by Eskişehir Municipal Government and two organizations), and Italy, Spain and Austria with one organization each.

Results of the project are the following publications:

• Comparative situation analysis in relation to people with intellectual disabilities.
• Comparative analysis in the areas of work and housing
• Development of a model for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities (this is being developed in Turkey)