On August 28, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. Over 200 unemployed disabled individuals have been employed in the Vitebsk region in the first half of the year, including 106 people through the established quota system, as reported to BELTA by the Committee for Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. Under the state program for employment promotion, 5 new specialized workplaces for disabled individuals were created in January-June. 22 unemployed disabled individuals underwent adaptation to work activities (48.9% of the annual target, with a growth rate of 110% compared to the same period last year) in 19 organizations. Compensation was paid to employers for labor costs, acquisition of materials and workwear, amounting to Br200 million from the Social Protection Fund of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. Adaptation to work activities was carried out in such specialties as legal advisor, accountant, computer operator, shoemaker, gatekeeper, watchman, repair and clothing maintenance worker, etc. Furthermore, in January-June, vocational training was organized for 38 unemployed disabled individuals. The latter acquired specialties such as storekeeper, hairdresser, plumber, etc. Within the framework of the regional program "Prevention of Disability and Rehabilitation of Disabled Individuals," over 400 people in the Vitebsk region were provided with technical means of social rehabilitation in the first half of the year. 404 wheelchairs were issued, along with over 440 various rehabilitation devices and technical aids for the visually impaired, totaling Br3.6 billion. State targeted social assistance amounting to Br1.1 billion was allocated for the payment of technical means of social rehabilitation for 789 disabled individuals of Group III and children requiring them for medical reasons. At the Vitebsk Residential Care Facility for the Elderly and Disabled, 58 disabled individuals with musculoskeletal disorders and 89 with visual impairments underwent social rehabilitation courses this year. For visually impaired individuals, the region's libraries maintain a special collection of 11,000 audiobooks. From January to June, this collection was augmented with 360 new items.