Enira Bronitskaja: Accessibility Week is for overcoming communications barriers, too

The topics that touch upon rights and interests of people with disabilities should be perceived by society as usual, without any trace of specificity.

Accessibility Week will be held in Belarus for the third time and the Office for the rights of persons with disabilities is its initiator. “From accessibility to equality” – is the key slogan of the Accessibility Week, which hasn’t lost it topicality during the years the Accessibility Week has been held.

Accessibility Week is the initiative joining events dedicated to different types of accessibility. This is an inclusive, informal, unique and open for everyone event. The main goal of the event is to show the society the importance of accessibility issues for persons with disabilities in the frames of the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.

Enira Bronitskaja, the head of the Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities, notes that Accessibility week was initially thought as an event not for everybody.

“It is clear that the topic is specific; however, our idea was to decrease this specificity as much as possible so that to overcome the barriers and communicate about it. About everyone and for everyone – this is how we can define our goals, - says Enira Bronitskaja. – This year we have more events that would be interesting to a larger public”.

According to the head of the Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities, “there is a stereotype that the dialog about it is inconvenient, uncomfortable; many people motivate their indifference with the saying that this topic doesn’t apply to them”. “But this is a usual topic, we stand against any isolation and for discussing problems of people with disabilities at a large possible circle of citizens”, - Enira Bronitskaja sums up.

In the frames of the official opening of the Accessibility Week 2015 a symbolic event will take place – the exhibition of posters “Accessibility is - …” will be opened. The exposition tells about different types of accessibility and how it is important for solving disability issues. The creators of the exhibition will try to talk about important public issues and happenings presenting information through simple and understandable images.

What is a capacity? What place does it take in our life? Why are people deprived of capacity and what difficulties a person and his family will face in this case? Participants together with specialist will try to find answers to these and many other questions during the discussion “Capacity”. You can learn even more on the topic by listening to the lecture of a practical expert, lawyer Dmitry Bartenev “The role of a capacity for independent living of persons with disabilities”.

The key event – Accessibility Forum – will gather together examples of Belarusian initiatives representing successful practices of expansion of accessibility of inclusion to public life and perspective ideas. For example, perspective ideas of transformation of living quarters in accordance with the principles of universal design and successful practices of accessibility in touristic sphere will be presented. If you consider that your team, initiative or organization has something to share – enlist to the presentation and share! To do it – send your application to email [email protected] till April 20, 2015 and write the topic of presentation. Guests don’t need the registration.

With the support of the general partner РАБОТА.TUT.BY HR-meeting “Experience of companies in employment of persons with disabilities” will be held. If an applicant with disability can compete at free labour market? Are employers ready to employ persons with disabilities? Should there be some bonuses for companies and enterprises employing people with special needs? Business community will share successful practices and examples.

Under the aegis of Accessibility Week Fair of social entrepreneurship will be held in Brest. The event is the example of accessibility to economic independence for different organizations and initiatives which expand possibilities of employment of persons with disabilities.

Symposium “Accessible live-long education for persons with intellectual disabilities” will be organized by “BelAPDIMI” in order to create informational and discussion site for raising awareness of event’s participants in the sphere of education of grown-ups with intellectual disabilities, assistance in development of educational services through joining possibilities and resources of state, public and international organizations.

One of the events will be a public film screening during which the audience can act in an unusual for them role of a blind person. Seeing nothing they will try not only “see the movie” and understand the plot, but also will get an opportunity to offer their own ways of expansion of accessibility for visually impaired and blind people.

Bar associations all over the country will hold days of free legal consultations for persons with disabilities, their families and families raising children with peculiarities of development. The full list of legal consultations will be places at website www.disright.org

Besides legal consultations other events showing activities aimed at accessibility expansion will be held in regions. For now such towns as Zhitkovichi (Gomel Oblast), Kobrin (Brest Oblast), Bobruisk (Mogilev Oblast) have joined the Accessibility Week.

The program of Accessibility Week 2015 will be supplemented with new events, follow the detailed information at the event’s webpage.

“Traditionally we want to pay attention to the issue of accessibility as the key issue of disability from the point of view of the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and also to the existence of different kinds of barriers – from physical to barriers in people’s minds,” – explains one of the Accessibility Week’s organizers, the coordinator of the Office for the rights of persons with disabilities Sergey Drozdovsky. – “We understand that today it is necessary to expand administrative, economic, legal, informational and other types of accessibility. That is why we invite to join the events, to hold your own and to share experience – all these will help us to solve the existing issues”.

Accessibility Week is an event to which everyone who shares its values can join. We welcome regional initiatives and are ready to provide informational and expert support. You can write your ideas to [email protected].