The European Union’s EQUAL initiative aims to improve people’s working lives and help them access jobs by fighting discrimination and exclusion on the basis of gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. Funded through the European Social Fund (ESF), EQUAL was being implemented in, and between, the EU Member States up until 2008. This brochure provides an introduction to EQUAL and presents the achievements and the strategic lessons learned from the initiative under its five main themes:increasing employability, encouraging inclusive entrepreneurship, facilitating adaptability, promoting gender equality and integrating asylum seekers. The brochure also looks at how the ESF will continue in the years ahead to support innovation and good practice regarding employment and social inclusion.
