Association of Dystrophics from Uzice will present the Law on Professional rehabilitation and Employment of PWDs on Employment Fair 5th of March 2010 in National Theatre lobby. 

This Law support employment of persons with disability aiming the creation of conditions for their equal participation and inclusion in the society, evaluation of their working abilities, professional rehabilitation and obligation of employment the persons with disability, including financial stimulation to companies that practice the employment of PWDs.  

Employment of PWDs is one of the basic preconditions for better quality of life not just PWDs but their families too.

Employment (not fictive but real) will contribute the full inclusion which will enable equality and dignity.

BANJALUKA – Employees in Institute for Dystrophics in Republic Srpska continue their hunger strike, second day in a row after the job cancellation received by temporary director.

They blame management for that bad situation.Drago Novakovic, resident’s representative told us that 23 severe disabled persons would not give up of their demands: all their colleagues that received job cancellation should be return to work, two disabled persons should be involved in bankruptcy group who will deal with the future issues and protect the rights of disabled workers.

Worker’s representatives showed yesterday the video from the last year, where Mr. Milorad Dodik, Prime Minister of Srpska Republic, promise them to help and solve this problem.“We do not want to go out and disturb our citizens falling out of our wheelchairs. If we start to fall we will do it here in our Institute”, said Novakovic.Most of the strikers are in really bad health condition due to Muscular Dystrophy and ER already visited them because of disturbed blood pressure and dizziness.

For the economically bad situation in Institute workers blame management that let for years the devastation of unique entrepreneurship of persons with disability.“No matter of our education, we could not be in managerial position. Technical director came here 8 years ago because the director was his son in law”, workers continue.

According to them there are three more persons, beside bankruptcy director, Head of law issues, Technical director and Head of commercial issues and all of them were involved in process of bacruptcy.Some of them terrorized and humiliated disabled workers, Neki od ovih rukovodećih, tvrde radnici, provode strahovladu u Zavodu maltretirajući i omalovažavajući radnike invalide.

Radovan Radulj, bankruptcy director did not want to comment anything. 

In 2010 City Secretariat for Education will deliver financial support for 140 students with disability at Belgrade University and Highes Schools.
Individual support will be about 170 Euros/month.

4 February 2010 

Strasbourg. The Committee of Ministers has just adopted a text recommending that member states no longer place children with disabilities in institutional care and instead give preference to community living, the press office of the Council of Europe reports.There are many concerns about the compatibility of institutional care with the exercise of children’s rights. Barring exceptional circumstances, no children should be placed in institutional care. Moreover, institutional provision should be replaced with community-based services within a reasonable timeframe as part of a comprehensive approach.
The Committee of Ministers acknowledges that member states are at very different stages in this area and that deinstitutionalisation is an on-going, long-term process. The text therefore underlines the importance of safeguarding the rights of children with disabilities and vulnerable young adults in institutional care throughout the transition process.Mechanisms should be established to involve children with disabilities and their families in the process of service development, as they are vital stakeholders.The Council of Europe has been active for several years now in defending children’s rights and helping to eradicate violence against all children, including children with disabilities.It has adopted a ten-year plan for 2006 to 2015 aimed at bringing about a major change in perceptions of people with disabilities and in practices relating to them. A key aspect is protecting and promoting the rights and dignity of children with disabilities. In addition, one strand of the Building a Europe for and with Children programme is protecting children against violence.

Several million children and adults with disabilities live in long-term care institutions in the 47 Council of Europe member states. 

On 27 January 2009, the renewed Disability Intergroup of the European Parliament and the European Disability Forum toasted the New Year in Brussels at a very well-attended event. The new President of the Intergroup – for the first time a person with a disability himself, – and the disability movement presented the Disability Pact to a hundred of activists and 20 MEPs from various political groups and nationalities.

“The historic day for persons with disabilities”

The Disability Intergroup (DI) is an informal grouping of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from all nationalities and most political groups who are interested in promoting the disability policy in their work in the European and national contexts. The DI is one of the oldest Intergroups: it was established in 1980. It is currently composed of about 100 MEPs. Last December 2009, the Intergroup elected Ádám Kósa MEP (HU, EPP) as President of the DI.

Ádám Kósa conceded: ”I have a dream that persons with disabilities will finally decide for themselves. The full ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as the adoption of the Disability Pact by the EU Member States are the necessary steps to achieve this dream that I share with 65 million persons with disabilities in Europe”. The active involvement of persons with disabilities in the ongoing elaboration of the disability policy for the next decade is essential. If the principle of full participation is put into practice, the Disability Pact proposed by EDF will contribute to the development of truly inclusive societies, in which all voices are heard and persons with disabilities can help shape a better world for all. 

Why is the Disability Pact necessary? 

The Disability Pact for 2011 to 2021 is a coordinated and sustainable disability policy at European and national level with clear and long-term direction and cooperation between Member States and the European Union. At the moment, there is no long-term EU agenda on disability that involves a clear joint commitment from the Institutions and its Member States. The 27 member states are developing 27 different national disability action plans. Coordination between the European and national actions and clear and measurable objectives linked to the EU strategy for growth and jobs is the road to a barrier-free Europe. 

More information: www.disabilitypact.eu 

Draft of Law on Social Protection

Team for social inclusion and poverty reduction at the Office of Vicepresident for European Integration, engaged Contact organisations of civil society, as representatives of vulnerable groups, to organise public debate in order to improve the Draft of Law on Social Protection from the aspect of human rights, social inclusion and the needs of each of vulnerable groups.

1. Center for Independent Living Serbia, as Contact organisation for persons with disability, took active role in this process, contacting more than 80 оrganisations of persons with disability in Serbia to get comments, suggestions and further proposals on Law draft.
2. CIL organised Round table on Tuesday, 26 of January 2010.

On that Round table, representatives of Ministry of Labor and Social Policy presented the Draft Law and more than 40 participant discussed that Draft. All comments and suggestions will be forwarded to Ministry of Labor and Social Policy on further consideration.

Eigth stop of photo and documentary exhibition on disability issues come to Uzice. Exhibition of Maria Boca “Incredible stories of invisible lives” evolved from the Week of initiatives dedicated to disability and social inclusion. 

This exhibition travelled through seven Serbia cities and its eight stop is Uzice today. Exhibition is followed by movie documentary of Emanuelle  Cikone and Jelena Rosic and will be accompany with theatre play „Midnight summerdream“ performed by youth with disability from Association of CP, Association of MD and Group „Scene“. 

Opening will be on January 27 2010  in Uzice National theatre. “Incredible stories of invisible lives” project is funded by Italian Development Cooperation and hosted by Ministry for Labor and Social Policy Serbia. 

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the international human rights treaty for women, was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly 30 years ago, on 18 December 1979.

In 2009, we are also celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Optional Protocol to the Convention, which empowers the CEDAW Committee to hear complaints of rights violations brought by individuals. To date, 186 countries have ratified the Convention and 98 of these countries have ratified the Optional Protocol.

The Convention’s 30th Anniversary provides an occasion to celebrate its near-universal ratification, as well as the recent progress that has been made at the national level to implement CEDAW and make true gains for women’s and girls’ rights on a practical, everyday level. Through the passage of new constitutions as well as national laws and policies based on the principle of gender equality, women’s human rights are now becoming national standards.

The leadership that has already been demonstrated should be built upon to support States that lack the knowledge, commitment, or legal framework to advance the implementation of the Convention within their jurisdictions.This website highlights a number of successful stories of the Convention’s implementation from around the world, which serve to illustrate how national partners and the global community can work together to ensure gender equality is a reality for all women and girls.

http://www.unifem.org/cedaw30/   

21/01/2010 , Madrid

Around 300 actors in the field of poverty and social exclusion will be present at the opening conference of the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.Participants coming from the 27 Member States as well as Iceland and Norway, will discuss current challenges in the fight against poverty, the impact of the EU’s Growth and Jobs Strategy and future commitments beyond 2010.The conference will serve the purpose of:

• Deepening the understanding of poverty and social exclusion, on the basis of evidence presented over the past few years in EU reports and studies
• Sending a clear political and social message on the need to correct inequalities in Europe and to place the fight against poverty at the centre of the agenda
• Proposing long term objectives for the fight against poverty and social exclusion in the future 2020 EU Strategy
• Encouraging stakeholders and relevant actors to take initiatives within the framework of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion
• To generate new impetus in the struggle against poverty and social exclusion and inspire people to come together to combat them.

Organised by:

• The European Commission
• The Spanish Presidency of the European Union

29/12/2009 By Nikola Barbutov for Southeast European Times in Belgrade

An organisation in Serbia is bringing out the best in the country’s disabled athletes.

The Disabled Athletic Association of Serbia, which had about 15,000 members, is on a mission to keep handicapped athletes in the country active. “Sporting results are not the primary goal, the goal is rather to include as many disabled people as possible in all events, instead of having them just sit at home…

Our aim is to increase the number of our members, who now account for around 2% of disabled people,” Dusan Moracanin, head of the Disabled Athletic Association of Serbia told SETimes. He added that in order to achieve that goal, the association needs more funding. “We are financed by the Sports and Youth Ministry and the Labour and Social Policy Ministry, but those funds are sufficient only for some basic costs and activities. We are unable to develop and offer something new.

Working with disabled people requires a whole team that includes a psychologist… we are unable to hire that kind of personnel,” said Moracanin. The disabled in Serbia compete at the state and international levels in chess, shooting, fishing, swimming, table tennis and wheelchair basketball, and also participate in recreational activities such as mountain climbing, sailing and weightlifting. According to Moracanin, sporting activities are a great way for disabled people to boost their self-esteem — especially mountain climbing.

 “When you reach the top, it feels fantastic to look around and realise what you’ve gone through. You’ve made it,” he said. The association started hosting mountain climbing events about three years ago in association with two mountaineering clubs — Pobeda and Avala.

Milanka Arsic, who recently opened her own mountaineering club called Balkan, described a climb up Bobotov Kuk, a peak in northern Montenegro, where disabled climbers reached the summit. “It was extremely difficult. It was unreal, phenomenal, impossible — but we did it,” she told SETimes.

Pobeda guide Zoran Kovljenic was overjoyed that the disabled mountaineers accomplished what some “healthy” folks could not. The mountaineering groups plan to branch out and climb peaks in neighbouring countries, such as Mount Olympus in Greece and Mount Rila in Bulgaria.

The ratifications of the CRPD in November and early December by Montenegro, United Republic of Tanzania, Bolivia and Algeria have increased to 76 the number of States Parties to the CRPD. Ratification by Montenegro, United Republic of Tanzania and Bolivia of the Optional Protocol increased to 48 the number of the States Parties to the OP.

Does DPOs in Serbia have neccessary capacity for advocacy of the rights of persons with disability according to their role recognised in CRPD and other international and national documents? The answer to that question should be given at the Round table “Development the advocacy capacities of organisations of persons with disability in Serbia“ organised by Center for Independent Living Serbia in Belgrade, Monday 14 of December 2009.

The research on capacities of DPOs, realised by Center for Independent Living and funded by UNDP, will be presented on this Round table. The aim of this research was to find existing capacities of these organisations and their need for support and training related to strengthen the activities of advocacy for the rights of persons with disability in Serbia.   Round table will open Minister for Labor and Social Policy Mr. Ljajic and participants will be from UNDP, Ministry for human and minority rights, various institutions and civil society organisations and representatives of DPOs (some of them was involved in this research).

Republic of Serbia adopted National strategy for improvement the status of PWDs in December 2006. This strategy should provide equal status for persons with disability. In May 200o Serbia ratified CRPD and obligated to provide the conditions for realisation the human rights for persons with disability and eliminate discrimination on the ground of disability.