Personal Assistant Service, first appeared as a concept and as a practice in 2001. in a mini pilot project organized by the Centre for Independent Living Serbia- funded by British NGO Oxfam . The results and experiences of that project CIL has published in research case study ” Personal Assistance Service as an alternative form of support for disabled.” 

This pilot project paved the way to significant donation that came from ” Irish Aid ” for the full pilot program in 2002 , which was implemented in cooperation with Catholic Relief Services (CRS ) and supported by Ministry of Social Policy of Serbia and later continued to support by subsequent Ministry of Labour and social Policy of Serbia in three Governments which have changed in that time period. Similar services exist in many countries, including Ireland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, Germany and the United States.

Pilot service in Serbia relied on the experience and lessons learned from all of these countries , but most of all inspired by the Irish experience.

Between 2002 the 2010 CIL has held a series of activities and projects for the promotion and provision of personal assistance services including: 

1.  Organizing Services from 2002 to 2007, SPAS I and II projects, which were funded by the Irish Government, CRS and Serbian

2. Developing, testing and implementation of procedures and documents necessary for the performance of services

3. Developing training programs for personal assistants, users and providing education to more than 100 associates, more than 100 users , representatives of social work and local authorities in period 2003 /2007

4. Feasibility study for personal assistance services in Serbia, 2006 and its registration at Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia

5. Conducted research on the economic feasibility of investing in the PA S and research the changes in the quality of life of users who lived with PA service

6. Organizing PA Services from 2007 to mid-2008 within the project ” From alternative to standardization,” funded by the Social Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia

7. Development of quality standards for personal assistance through the project ” From alternative to standardization,” funded by the Social Innovation Fund in Serbia (2007)

8. Testing the draft standard for PA services through the provision of services in Belgrade and Leskovac, within the program Checking the standards of Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and in cooperation with the National Institute for Social Welfare  (2008 )

9. Organization of services and further development of standards to users in Belgrade during the through a project funded by the Balkan Trust for Civic Initiatives – BCIF (2009)

10. Support the organization of personal assistance services in Novi Sad – partnership project with the Centre ” Living Upright ” with the support of the Executive Council of Vojvodina – CIL was responsible for the training of PAs and users, as well as establishing procedures and mechanisms for the provision of services

11. Presentation of experiences in providing personal assistance services , including performing the necessary training and the process of developing quality standards for PA service, on numerous professional, national and international meetings.

Through its project SPAS, Center for Independent Living Serbia turned on a substantial number of relevant institutions from different sectors in the implementation of its activities.  CIL launched an initiative to examine the need for an integrated and related services in the social welfare system and offered alternative services for people with disabilities.

At the time of launching the first PA service (2001/2002)  relevant legislation consisted only of Law on social protection and social security of citizens , which did not recognize this type of service. Since then and thanks to CIL activities there were a series of policies and legislation adopted to provide the basis for these services through the social welfare system but also in other relevant areas . 

The key legal documents that are relevant to the provision of social welfare services are: 

1.  The Poverty Reduction Strategy

2.  Social Welfare Development Strategy

3.  Strategies for improving the situation of persons with disabilities

4.  Law on Social Protection and Social Security of the citizens

5.  Law on Prevention of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities

6.  Law on professional rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities

7.  Law on Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

8.  Law on Social Protection of Serbia.

Finally, CIL Serbia accredited the first and only training program of education for personal assistants in the Institute of Social Welfare in July 2011. 

We are proud of our work and we know why.

Center for Independent Living of Persons with Disabilities ( PWD) Serbia , together with National organizations of persons with disabilities Serbia ( NOOIS ) has launched a project called “Joining Forces towards political and economic empowerment of persons with disabilities ”  and one component of the project is to improve cooperation between the members of the National Assembly and the organizations of persons with disabilities in Serbia . This project was financially supported in February this year by office of the European Union , in the framework of the EIDHR and associate partners are the Government of Serbia and the Office for Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Strategy and Organization, ” Group 484 ”  and the National Democratic Institute (NDI )

One of the main goals of the project is to increase political participation and strengthen the role of DPOs in development policies in Serbia through increased cooperation between the deputies and the DPOs and the formation of an informal parliamentary group for improving the status , position and quality of life PWDs.

The meeting with MPs who agreed to support this group was held on November 29 2013 in National Assembly of Serbia.

Committee for work, social policy, social inklusion and poverty reduction held special session with the Committee for planning, traffic, infrastructure and telecommunication to mark 3rd December, International Day of persons with disability. There were representatives from DPOs from Belgrade , Novi Pazar and Prijepolje, Ombudsman, Office for equality protection and EU Delegation in Serbia .

Visit to Serbian National Assembly and this special session were initiated within the project “Combining the strengths: Jointly for political and economic empowerment of persons with disabilities” funded by EU Delegation in Serbia and implemented by CIL Serbia and NODPOs.

All persons with disabiity has the right to: 

SAFET Y AND SECURITY:

The right to life, liberty and security of each individual. T he right to live free from violence within and outside the family home. T he right to equal protection against unlawful interference into their privacy, family, home or correspondence.

The right to protection in armed conflicts, humanitarian disasters and natural calamities.

EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW:

The right to be treated equally before the law and protected by the law without discrimination, including the provision of appropriate conditions and to stay in custody.

LIFE WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION :

The right to live freely without discrimination of individuals or institutions on the basis of disability ..

ACCESSIBILITY :

Equal access to the physical environment , transportation , information and communication technologies and other services that are open to the public.

EDUCATION:

Equal access to free, inclusive, quality education that is tailored to the needs of students with disabilities.

HOUSING :

Equal access to affordable, safe and stable housing with appropriate accommodations to persons with disabilities.

HEALTH:

The right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health care. Equal access to health services without discrimination, including sexual and reproductive health, early diagnosis and intervention and prevention services for persons with disability.

WORK :

The right to work and free choice of occupation without discrimination. Right to

equal pay, equal evaluation of work performance, safety and healthy working conditions, including appropriate adjustment of the working place.

These rights include freedom of speech, equality before the law, the right to marriage and the family, respect for privacy, the right to education , independent living, and many other rights .

As part of the project to help Build the capacity of CIL local organizations a  two day workshop for participants from Smederevo, Kragujevac and Belgrade was held in Smederevo. The topics were acvocacy, campaigning and usage of local action plan. The workshop was held on 22/23 November and was facilitated by Zorica Raskovic.

Within the EIDHR project – Joining forces for political and economic empowerment, CIL Serbia organised workshop on Social enterpreneurship for three DPOS from Kladovo, Negotin and Bor. Workshop facilitated Gordan Velev for 19 participants.

Posted: 11/01/2013

By Zachary Fenell, the Mobility Resource

Discussing disabilities may feel like trying to avoid metaphorical tripwires.

One innocent misstep and an able-bodied person may receive a tongue lashing just for saying “handicap vehicle” instead of “wheelchair accessible vehicle.”

To help you sidestep situations like the one above, note the following tips when discussing disabilities.

1) Realize wheelchairs enable.

“Wheelchair-bound,” how often do you see that phrase and other similar ones in the mainstream media? Such word choice represents a popular misconception.

Don’t feel bad though, mainstream media. I used to deploy said words, at least until I really started to with my writing delve into the disability niche. Companies like Disaboom and The Mobility Resource educated me on the truth. Wheelchairs enable. A wheelchair increases accessibility and therefore opportunities. Quite the opposite from binding.

2) Empowered suffering.

Another pet peeve of mine is when the mainstream media calls someone with a disability a “sufferer” or “victim.” I live with cerebral palsy (CP) but I don’t consider myself suffering. Instead as I write in my article 5 Ways Cerebral Palsy Benefits Me my CP ended up an empowering force in my life.

3) Different people prefer different terminology.

Certain principals like the two aforementioned reside universally within the disability community. However, different people prefer different terminology. Personally I consider “disability” and “handicap” acceptable. I will use them interchangeably too. Yet others adamantly refuse to use “handicap.” Heck, many hate “disability” and prefer the politically correct phrase “differently-abled.” To overcome these different preferences requires an open mind and patience. Open your mind to different opinions and stay patient.

4) Maintain a person-first narrative.

Maintaining a person-first narrative offers another critical tip. No matter the word you use, aim to showcase the person. Ideally a person’s name will always come before his or her condition. So I’m Zachary Fenell, an author with cerebral palsy. Not, an author with cerebral palsy, Zachary Fenell. Introducing name first, condition second will maintain a person-first narrative.

5) Individuality matters.

A person-first narrative gives way to the final tip today, individuality matters. Labels always contain inefficiencies. Take the classifications “differently-abled” and “able-bodied.” Doesn’t calling people with disabilities “differently-abled” infer people without disabilities don’t differ from each other?

Disability or not each person holds a characteristic marking him or her exclusively unique. Ultimately, individuality transcends any possible label you could choose.

1.       SeConS – grupa za razvojnu inicijativu iz Beograda

2.       Grupa 484 iz Beograda

3.       Amity – snaga prijateljstva iz Beograda

4.       Autonomni ženski centar iz Beograda

5.       Romski informativni centar iz Kragujevca

6.       Edukacioni centar iz Leskovca

7.       Građanske inicijative iz Beograda

8.       Centar za samostalni zivot osoba sa invaliditetom Srbije

9.       Društvo za razvoj dece i mladih – Otvoreni klub iz Niša

10.   Sunce iz Kragujevca

11.   Regionalni centar za manjine iz Beograda

12.   Inicijativa za razvoj i saradnju iz Beograda

13.   Novosadski humanitarni centar iz Novog Sada

14.   Istraživači socijalnih prilika iz Beograda

15.   Protecta iz Niša 

16.   Housing centar, Centar za unapređenje stanovanja socijalno ugroženih grupa, iz Beograda

17.   Romani Asvi iz Vranja

18.   Romani Cikna iz Kruševca

19.   Prijatelji dece opštine Novi Beograd iz Beograda

20.   Vizija iz Kragujevca

21.   Beli štap iz Beograda

PA Service – for decision makers on the local level (Mojkovac and Bijelo Polje in Montenegro) and DPO representatives. CIL trainers Dimitrije Gligorijevic and Ivana Gvozdenovic held training on 26 until 28 of August 2013 about the importance and advantages of PA Service in general. Training was financed by UNDP Montenegro. 

Advocacy and PR – training for DPO representatives to gain skills in advocacy for interests and rights of people with disabilities in order to improve their status in society. Training for participants from Novi Pazar and Prijepolje was held 16 of September and for participants from Kladovo, Negotin and Bor 30 of September 2013. Training is part of project  Combining the strengths: Jointly for political and economic empowerment of PWDs financed by EC Delegation i Serbia. 

Accredited program of PA education – Organisation FRIEND from Majdanpek organised education for personal assistants in accordance with accredited program held by CIL Serbia. Training was held 19/22 September 2013 and CIL trainers were Gordana Rajkov, Dimitrije Gligorijevic, Milena Stojanovic, Ivana Gvozdenovic and Lidija Milanovic. This education financed Department for Family care at Ministry for labor, employment and social policy and successful candidates will get certificates. 

Advocacy and debating skills – training for young persons with disability and their allies in local community on: basic on communication, active listening, asking questions, elements of public appereance, speach, basics in negotiation. Training was held by Natasa Ristic supported by Gordana Rajkov and it was a part of project Nothing about us withoug us, funded by Ministry for labor, employment and social policy. 

Accredited program of PA education – Organisation of paraplegic from Bijalo Polje organise education for PAs in accordance with accredited program held by CIL Serbia. This training will be held 9/12 of October 2013  for DPOs from Mojkovac and Bijelo Polje within the project funded by UNDP Montenegro. 

More than 1 billion people or 15% of the world population are living with disabilities – the world’s largest and most disadvantaged group – most of which, are in developing countries!Around the world, persons with disabilities face physical, social, economic and attitudinal barriers that exclude them from participating fully and effectively as equal members of society. They are disproportionately represented among the world’s poorest, and lack equal access to basic resources, such as education, employment, healthcare and social and legal support systems, as well as have a higher rate of mortality. In spite of this situation, disability has remained largely invisible in the mainstream development agenda and its processes.

It’s time to break barriers and open doors: to realize an inclusive society for all!

CIL Serbia recently launched another site Voice for equality. This is press clipping site showing different magazine and  newspaper articles about disability issues. This web site is is currently available only in Serbian language but for all from Balkan area good opportunity to see how “we” are described by journalist or how PWDs see themselves.

http://www.osi-press.com/

Project “Sustainable support services for PWDs in Serbia” is implemented by Forum of Youth with Disabilities, Sansa, Center for Inclusive society and CSO Perspective – funded by EU Office in Serbia.

One of the activities is designing Info web portal with data on available services for PWDs in Serbia www.servisipodrske.info – currently available only in Serbian