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How Ščučyn was proceeding towards the solution of problems of people with disabilities

15.01.2019  |  Society   |  Yauheniya Burshtyn, EuroBelarus,  
How Ščučyn was proceeding towards the solution of problems of people with disabilities Photo of the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The campaign "Agenda 50" was summed up in Ščučyn, and a local action plan for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed there.

The preparation of the local agenda for improving the quality of life of people with disabilities under the campaign "Agenda 50" in Ščučyn has been completed. In the course of the roundtable, the campaign participants shared experience and discussed the results, which they managed to achieve in two years of work.

- I am very pleased that this issue (challenge of people with disabilities - EuroBelarus) is no more suppressed, it has begun to harmoniously interweave with all the processes that occur in the country and in our region. We are gradually realizing that it's not just people who need our attention, but the people who are entitled to have the same benefits as everybody else enjoys, said Deputy Chairman of the Ščučyn Executive Committee Elena Pasyuta.

She noted that the local agenda of Ščučyn has the truly significant local issues reflected, and representatives of various organizations and residents of the area contributed to their defining.

Photo of "EuroBelarus" Information Service

Head of the Department of Tourism and Investment Activities of the Administration of Economics of Ščučyn Executive Committee Alexandr Amshey stressed that as a result of the work on the agenda the most comprehensive cross-section of relevant issues for people with disabilities in the region was obtained.

- Agenda is a strategy of our actions, the roadmap. The path will not be easy, but we have got now the development direction. It is the most valuable.

Photo of "EuroBelarus" Information Service

According to Director of the Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Siarhei Drazdouski, Ščučyn has a good potential for successful implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

- We have been working in different cities. You’d think, how large Belarus is? But in all the cities, all the five agendas are different. This confirms once again that it is impossible to solve the same problem in different areas in a similar way, noticed Siarhei Drazdouski.

Photo of "EuroBelarus" Information Service

Deputy Director of the Office on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Mikhail Matskewich reminded about the main stages of the campaign "Agenda 50". He said that with the signing of the local agenda, cooperation with the campaign participants in Ščučyn will not finish: the Office has prepared several educational activities which the local community can participate in later.

According to the director of Territorial Center for Social Service of Ščučyn Angelina Shpakovskaya, the local participants were shocked at the beginning of the campaign because they did not know where to start from. But the "22 steps" technique, designed by the campaign Polish partners from the TUS foundation helped to structure the work - and the things went on.

At the work start, the participants formulated 12 problems, but many of the issues were addressed in the work course. The final document defines 4 problems to deal with:

- It is the scarce illumination of distant streets, lack of social taxi, insufficient accessibility of buildings and structures and low socialization and employment possibilities of people with disabilities. All these problems will be addressed. We have 5 people who have been certified under the "Inclusive barista" project, people are getting jobs through the center of employment, as well. A lot depends on the willingness of the people themselves - this is very important, summed up Angelina Shpakovskaya.

Photo of "EuroBelarus" Information Service

The outcome of the round table in Ščučyn was the signing of the local action plan for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Prior to that, such documents were signed by the campaigners in Stoubcy and Stolin for their regions.

Photo of "EuroBelarus" Information Service

***

The material was prepared in the framework of the international project "Rights of People with Disabilities: agenda for Belarus (Agenda 50)".

The campaign "Agenda 50" is being implemented with the support of the European Union in partnership with the Fundacja TUS (Poland)and the PA "European House" (Denmark)Office for the Rights of People with DisabilitiesInternational Consortium "EuroBelarus" and Center for European Transformation participate in the campaign implementation in Belarus.

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