News

3 December 2022

Today, 3 December, is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was introduced by the UN General Assembly in 1992 with the important goal to encourage awareness of the problems persons with disabilities face and to mobilise support for their dignity, rights and well-being.

Today, we should recall that persons with disabilities, just like all other citizens, have their dreams, potential and needs which require appropriate conditions to be pursued.

Due to the barriers existing in the environment, they are in a vulnerable position and they have the need and the right to receive adequate support from all responsible authorities, from the society as a whole, in order to be equal and to have the ability to lead a dignified and independent life.

Today, it would be good to account for what we have done over the year in support of persons with disabilities and in ensuring their rights, while noting clearly all other challenges for them that remain unresolved. Problems such as the inaccessibility of the environment; the lists of medical items and aids and respective limits which have not been updated for years; medical expert examinations as a result of which those in need are deprived of support for a long time; and, unfortunately, many others.

In this situation, it is also essential to outline specific steps which we can take together every day as a society in order to overcome the problems and to improve the possibilities for inclusion of these citizens and their families. Steps to mark the beginning of more intense work to fulfil the requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The enormous trust the citizens have in the Ombudsman and their numerous complaints require of the institution to make any possible efforts to include the problems of persons with disabilities on the agenda of the responsible authorities. Using the impact mechanisms available – recommendations, opinions and proposals – I, as a Public Advocate, insists on effective measures being taken and on making the support for persons with disabilities an important priority for the State; moreover, in the situation of a skyrocketing inflation and a risk of greater poverty for the most vulnerable persons in the society.

A step in the right direction is the legislative amendments I put forward before the Parliament just days ago in support of more than 660,000 persons with disabilities. 

They aim to overcome the most serious problems of persons with disabilities related to delays in medical expert re-examinations by the respective authorities and the impossibility to exercise their rights which is outside their control. I also suggest a text to eliminate the discrimination with respect to pensions of invalids. 

I hope that they will be adopted by the Members of Parliament which will demonstrate true care for the vulnerable groups and not just pro-forma action.