Center for civil society development published a book Zrenjanin – city accessible for all. This publication is available on http://cdcs.org.rs/ and will be available on CIL web site too. 

There was a project funded by BCIF with aim to create accessible environment for all citizens, their equal opportunities and through joined activities of local authorities, users, experts and civil society.  

The most important result is Local Action Plan which will have certain amount of money for accessibility activities in Zrenjanin in 2012. 

Center for civil society development will monitor the implementation of LAP and realization of local budget in lines aimed to mentioned iniciatives – creation the accessible environment.

New broadcast A PLACE FOR US will introduce audience with the following topics: residental care for PWDs, with emphasise on persons with autism – domestic and world wide opinions, PC equipment for students with autism in Secondary school in Belgrade, Serbian paralympic contestant, wheelchair trip from Macedonia to London, blind boy in Zrenjanin who plays computer and music, wheelchair in grammar school – a little girl and their friends, boy with autism and his original paintings.  

Broadcast time:

Thursday, 05 of  April    9.55 p.m.  RTS2
                                               00:05 a.m.    RTS Satellite  
                           
Friday, 06 of April          11:00 a.m.   RTS2                                          

                                                2:30 p.m.  RTS Satellite 

The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) today publishes its Report on the implementation of the right of disabled people to independent living in the context of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which was ratified by the UK in 2009.

The Report draws attention to a number of significant human rights issues, including: 

·         the need for freestanding legislation to protect the right to independent living in UK law,

·         the effect of current reforms to benefits and services on the ability of disabled people to enjoy independent living,

·         the role played by the UNCRPD in policy development and decision making at all levels of government,

·         the use of equality impact assessments,

·         the effects of devolution on implementation of the UNCRPD, and

·         hate crime 

The right to independent living does not exist as a freestanding right in UK law. Although it is protected and promoted to some extent by a matrix of rights, the Committee believes that this is not enough. It argues that the Government and other interested parties should immediately assess the need for, and feasibility of, legislation to establish independent living as a freestanding right. In addition, the Committee concludes that the UNCRPD is hard law, not soft law, and that the Government should fulfil their obligations under the Convention on that basis, and counter any public perception that it is soft law. 

The Committee finds that: 

·         reforms to benefits and services risk leaving disabled people without the support they need to live independently;

·         restrictions in local authority eligibility criteria for social care support, the replacement of the Disability Living Allowance with Personal Independence Payment, the closure of the Independent Living Fund and changes to housing benefit risk interacting in a particularly harmful way for disabled people;

·         some people fear that the cumulative impact of these changes will force them out of their homes and local communities and into residential care. It also finds that: 

·         the Government had not conducted an assessment of the cumulative impact of current reforms on disabled people. The Report urges them do so, and to report on the extent to which these reforms are enabling them and local authorities to comply with their obligations under the UNCRPD. 

·         the UNCRPD did not appear to have played a significant role in the development of policy and legislation, as is required by the Convention.

The Committee therefore argues that the Government should make a commitment to Parliament that they will give due consideration to the articles of the Convention when making legislation.   Further, the Committee deprecates changes to the duties of public authorities in England under the Equality Act 2010, which no longer require the production of equality impact assessments of changes in policy, nor the involvement of disabled people in developing policies which will affect them.  

The Committee finds variations in the manner in which the devolved administrations have implemented the Convention, and uncertainty as to the role the UK Government should play in ensuring implementation. The Report notes with disappointment the lack of a strategy in Northern Ireland to promote independent living and reminds the UK Government to acknowledge their responsibility to ensure implementation. 

The Committee also considers a range of other issues relating to independent living. It recommends  that the Government should take further action to ensure that assessments for care needs are portable across the country in order to ensure disabled people’s right to choose their place of residence. It also expresses concern over a growing incidence of hate crime against disabled people and urges the Government take action to foster respect for the rights and dignity of disabled people.  

Dr Hywel Francis MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “We are concerned to learn that the right of disabled people to independent living may be at risk through the cumulative impact of current reforms. Even though the UK ratified the UNCPRD in 2009 with cross-party support, the Government is unable to demonstrate that sufficient regard has been paid to the Convention in the development of policy with direct relevance to the lives of disabled people. The right to independent living in UK law may need to be strengthened further, and we call on the Government and other interested organisations to consider the need for a freestanding right to independent living in UK law.”

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Office for Cooperation with civil society  at Government of the Republic of Serbia announce The First Fair on social protection in Serbia on  February 10^th 2012. The fair will be held in Hall 5 of the Belgrade Fair, from 10:00 a.m. to 07:00 p.n. This Fair organize Ministry for Labor and Social Policy.

The fair will be attended by over 130 providers of social services throughout the country. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the achieved results, good practices, as well as planned activities for the promotion of social welfare.
CIL Serbia is going to participate with its PA Service experience.  

Pursuant to the Day of the General Discussion on Article 9 of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, held on October 7^th, 2010, and the decision taken by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ Working Group for drafting a General Comment on Article 9 of the Convention, at the Committee’s 6^th session held in September 2011, the Committee puts forth an official call for submission of practical and theoretical papers on implementation of the Article 9 on accessibility of the Convention. The Committee would welcome practical and theoretical papers focusing in particular on the following aspects of the implementation of the Article 9 of the Convention: 1.) The relation between Article 9 and Article 5 (“Non- discrimination and equality”),

2.) The nature of accessibility as defined in Article 9 and other relevant articles of the Convention- whether it is a principle, a right, a precondition for full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in society and for their liberty of movement, or all of the above,

3.) The aspects of the progressive realization of the accessibility and the relation between accessibility and reasonable accommodation,

4.) The input, mandate and competences of various national stakeholders- the public authorities, expert associations (e.g. Chambers of Architects and Engineers), the academia and the civil society (in particular the organizations of persons with disabilities)- in defining the national accessibility standards and monitoring its’ implementation,

5.) The examples of good practice in promotion of universal design and accessibility, funding and realization of regional, national and local action plans for accessibility and the removal of barriers in physical environment, public transport, information and communication and access to services opened to the public. 

The Committee calls upon the persons with disabilities, their organizations and other civil society actors, expert associations, educational and scientific institutions, national human rights institutions, State Parties and regional organizations to submit papers on the above- mentioned subjects related to the implementation of the Article 9 of the Convention. The Committee would welcome papers on the areas specified above, in either English, Spanish or Arabic. The papers should be as concise as possible and submitted to the following email address in Word format by no later than 15 March 2012: crpd@ohchr.org. Allow me to express appreciation in advance for your active support for the work of the Committee. 

The most significant feature of the 1972 World Heritage Convention is that it links together in a single document the concepts of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural properties. The Convention recognizes the way in which people interact with nature, and the fundamental need to preserve the balance between the two.

http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/activities/documents/activity-664-1.pdf

Paul Bailey, from Great Britain, won the case based on anti-discrimination Act – as a diabetic, his working place was not adapted to his needs
BBC News, 19 Aug 2011
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Starbucks, coffee chain in America, made ​​a deal with a woman of small stature, which was the reason why she lost her job.
Reuters, 18 Aug 2011
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A woman, wheelchair user in the UK, is settled in court with Value Cabs Taxi Agency
BBC News, 15 Aug 2011
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Allegations of discrimination in employment in Ireland increased by 60%
Irish Times, 09 Aug 2011
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A victim of post-traumatic stress, in San Francisco, won a case against the company where he had no understanding of the workplace
San Francisco Chronicle, 03 Aug 2011
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Companies in Vietnam are driven to employ people with disabilities
Viet Nam News, 01 Aug 2011________________________________________
For the first time Australia nominated Commissioner fighting against discrimination based on age
Maars News, 31 Jul 2011
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In the first six months of this year, New Taipei, Taiwan, received 51 complaints on the grounds of discrimination in the workplace
China Post [Taiwan], 26 Jul 2011
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Construction businessman in the UK paid £ 400,000 for not accommodate job place for his worker after he survive stroke
HSW, 18 Jul 2011
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Law suite on the grounds of discrimination at work in Canada rejected (a woman was fired for poor job performance – not discrimination)
The Windsor Star, 20 Jul 2011 

Center for Independent Living Serbia OSI is organizing Regional conference on independent living on 22/23^rd of December 2011, in Belgrade, Holiday Inn hotel.

The aim of the conference is further enticement of independent living movement for people with disabilities in the region and this will also be the opportunity to mark the passing of the new Law on Social Protection, which will provide personal assistance as a social support necessary for independent living of persons with disabilities for the first time in our country. There will be participants from Serbia, Bosnian Federation, Republic Srpska, Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Institutions and people, contributed to this development, will receive a small acknowledgement for their work in this field and participants will recall the development of the movement for independent living in Serbia and its impact on the development of policies for persons with disabilities,

The conference is funded by European Network on Independent Living – ENIL and also supported by TACSO Office (Technical Assistance to NGOs) in Serbia.

Center for Independent Living of Persons with Disabilities of Serbia in partnership with the Office of the Commissioner for the protection of equality of citizens conducted a series of panel discussions easier to exercise their rights, within the project funded by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy.

Debate will be held in Belgrade on 13^th of  December 2011, from 1 a.m. till 4 p.m. in the Hall court at the Faculty of Law.

The meeting will address Ms. Nevena Petrusic, Commissioner for the protection of equality of citizens, Mimica Živadinović Project Coordinator and host of the Law School professor Branko Rakic.

This is CIL contribution to empowerment of people with disabilities and their organizations to recognize discrimination and gain knowledge on how to use different mechanisms and bodies to achieve the rights and protection from discrimination which is still not adequate.

In this way we expand the knowledge about the role of the Commissioner for the protection of

“Art does not exist only to entertain but also to challenge one to think, toprovoke, even to disturb, to engage in a constant search for the truth.”~ Barbra Streisand

All forms of art – drama, music, visual art, poetry, film, photography, and dance – stimulate connections between people. They are forms of expression often used to promote social change and to stand up for human rights. Art communicates across boundaries of geography, politics, gender, and race.Human rights too, cross all divides and belong to every individual on the planet. Simply put, art reflects us – we experience art together. It makes us feel human, and moves us to protect the human rights of others.In the classroom, the arts provide an invaluable tool through which teachers can attempt to address sensitive and challenging human rights issues.

As one human rights educator stated:

“…Arts by their very nature are viewed as tools for change, the development of consciousness and as mobilization for actions. All of this applies so well to the understanding of human rights and the skills needed to enforce and empower students to take action. Everything students read, enact, create, showcase, write or perform ties to human rights exploration. We have had great success usingtheatre, music, dance and writing to allow students to give voice to human rights issues, in this country, other countries and even within school cultures. It is this direct link and exploration that drives artists of all ages – and affects change.” ~ Sandy Borren Barrett, Associate Artistic Director, Stages Theatre, Hopkins, MN

Human rights themes and art can connect in the classroom in many ways. Here a just a few examples:

Diversity

Human Rights provide both the opportunity to affirm the value of human diversity and identify a threat to cultural identities where languages and cultural traditions are disappearing. Artistic forms and styles can be used to reassertidentities. For example, people transported as slaves to the Americas were forced to repress their cultural traditions. Despite this, song and storytelling were developed as a means of resistance; and blues, gospel and jazz helped to shapeAfrican-American identity. Today, many African musicians use rap and hip-hop as an expression of defiance, protest and social conscience.

Activism

Just as the arts can be used as propaganda, it can also act as a social conscience where rights and freedom are under threat. Satirical songs, drama and cartoons are all ways in which artists highlight hypocrisy and abuse of power.Cultural and artistic freedoms have even been written into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Positive social change

The arts often reflect the status quo but can also point to change and new possibilities. Art with a political or social message can be a powerful force for those challenging injustice. It can also symbolize aspirations for an alternativefuture. As teachers, we have the power to affect change in many ways.Packed full of lesson plans, activities, ideas, resources, and websites all dedicated to transforming learning in and through the arts, this Arts edition of Rights Sites News is designed to help teachers use the power of art to advance, protect, and celebrate human rights in their classroom. As Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”

While the region has made significant progress over recent years, it is at risk from the effects of a further global slowdown and needs to adopt policies that support stability and longer term growth   

SARAJEVO, November 15, 2011 – While a global slowdown and recent turbulence in the Euro zone (EZ) have shaken economies of the six countries in South East Europe (SEE6)[1], their deeper integration with the European Union (EU) remains the best long term prospect for their growth, according to the new World Bank “South East Europe Regular Economic Report” (SEE RER), released today.

This is the first of a series of regular reports which will come out semi-annually.   “Our projections are for the growth in this region of 2.5 percent in 2011 and 2.1 percent in 2012,” says Ron Hood, Lead Economist in the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Sector Unit in the Europe and Central Asia region and lead author of the report. “However, even these modest growth projections assume that the Eurozone crisis is solved in an orderly manner. Should the crisis worsen, economic growth in these countries could be much worse.”  The effects of a further global slowdown and the prolonged uncertainties around the Eurozone crisis will influence SEE6 economies through trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), foreign banks, and remittances, according to the report.  

All these transmission channels would be affected by deeper economic and financial tensions in the EU and the Eurozone.  Trade with the EU is a key driver of exports and overall economic growth for SEE6 countries, amounting to between 30 percent and almost half of their GDP. In 2010, 58.2 percent of total SEE6 exports were to the EU, with the lion’s share going to Italy and Germany. After a drop by 14.7 percent in 2009, exports marked a robust growth by 20 percent in 2010, peaked at 29.7 percent in the first quarter of 2011 year on year, and have subsequently slowed. Imports have a similar dynamics but with a deeper decline in 2009 and a more muted recovery. As a consequence, both the trade balance and the current account deficit (CAD) for the region improved by about 10 percentage points in 2010 compared to 2008. However, despite recent improvements CADs still remain high, particularly in Montenegro and Kosovo, says the report. 

Beyond trade, EU investors are also the largest aggregate provider of FDI to the region, with net inflows worth over 2 percent of the Western Balkans GDP. Likewise, Eurozone countries represent a significant source of remittances to all the SEE6 countries, particularly for Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. The presence of foreign banks creates another channel of potential influence. The share of foreign banks in the total assets of the region’s banking system stands at around 89 percent. “Whereas overall banking systems in SEE6 countries appear resilient, with high liquidity and significant capital buffers, existing credit and funding risks are being magnified in the region, driven primarily by adverse developments in the EU, an overhang of non-performing loans from banks in many SEE6 countries, and slowing economic growth,” warns Hood.

“Almost all foreign banks in SEE6 are from EU countries, with a comparatively high share of Greek and Italian owned banks. Further stress on their respective parent banks could potentially create another credit crunch in the region.” Hood emphasizes that, “Financing is likely to be a constraint going forward. External debt has grown and a decline in SEE6 growth may cut government revenues, raising pressures on public finance.”  The report recommends that authorities in SEE6 countries pursue fiscal prudence, rebuild fiscal buffers, and be prepared for further expenditure consolidation. Unfortunately, the fiscal performance has deteriorated in all countries since 2008, and few countries in the region still have room to accommodate a worsening of the crisis through allowing automatic stabilizers to operate. With the exception of Kosovo, no country has sizable deposits to draw down. Thus several countries should accelerate fiscal consolidation, with pensions and wage bills being important areas of focus, says the report. While immediate financing needs of fiscal deficits appear to have been secured, longer term prospects will remain difficult, warns the SEE RER.

The sharp rise of gross external and government debt to GDP between 2008 and 2010 is mainly attributed to government borrowing aimed at financing fiscal deficits used to smooth out crisis effects. The SEE6 group is heterogeneous regarding the level of external debt, with the total debt in Montenegro and Serbia above the regional average, while Albania has the biggest public debt as a percentage of GDP. Improving employment opportunities remains another major long term challenge for the SEE6, concludes the report. The high level of unemployment among youth and the low participation of women is a striking feature of the SEE6 labor market. Moreover, much of the unemployment is long term and several countries have aging populations. “Future growth will need to be driven more by investment and improvements in productivity that enhance competitiveness and productive capacity, rather than by the externally financed consumption and investment in real estate and other bubble assets,” says Jane Armitage, World Bank Country Director and Regional Coordinator for South East Europe.

“Countries in South East Europe need to address longstanding structural reform challenges. This will allow them to take better advantage of the access to markets, inflows of foreign direct investment, bank finance, and remittances that closer integration with the EU offers.” The special feature of the report is the focus on education, and on Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation.

[1] SEE6 are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.