On the Occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities President Milanović Receives Delegation of Croatian Union of Associations of Persons with Disabilities
On the Occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities marked on 3 December, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović received a delegation of the Croatian Union of Associations of Persons with Disabilities (SOIH). The President of the Croatian Union of Associations of Persons with Disabilities Marica Mirić thanked President Milanović for the support he has lent to associations of persons with disabilities throughout his term.
“We cannot say that nothing has changed, the Inclusive Allowance Act and the Personal Assistance Act have been passed, but much more remains to be done so that persons with disabilities in Croatia have a better quality of life and integrate into society”, the president of SOIH said at the meeting. In this context she pointed out unresolved issues such as the transport of persons with disabilities, the difficulties persons with disabilities encounter in nursing homes, the healthcare their dissatisfaction with the speed of deinstitutionalization of the social welfare system.
Representatives of the Union and associations of persons with disabilities indicated the specific problems they face: insufficient number of personal assistants, insufficient training of sign language interpreters, absence of emergency centres, lack of money because the government does not sufficiently subsidize the activities of associations that care for persons with disabilities, and failure to implement a national programme for rare diseases. These were some of the complaints raised at the meeting with President Milanović.
President Milanović supported the efforts of the Croatian Union of Associations of Persons with Disabilities and noted that the state must provide money for their needs, especially now that money is available.
International Day of Persons with Disabilities is marked each year on 3 December with the main goal of improving the quality of life of people with disabilities by encouraging mutual cooperation and creating partnerships between existing associations of people with disabilities and raising public awareness on the presence of people with disabilities in the community and the problems they encounter on a daily basis, with an emphasis on the opportunities that are available to them. The SOIH network consists of 16 national associations and OSVIT as a network of protective workshops in Croatia, through which it brings together over 250 local associations of people with all types of disabilities throughout the Republic of Croatia.
Attending the meeting in the Office of the President of the Republic in addition to the president and vice-president of SOIH Marica Mirić and Ratko Kovačić respectively, were representatives of national associations; the Croatian Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing – HSGN Dijana Vincek; the Croatian Associations of Societies of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities – OSIT Luka Žukina; the Croatian Cerebral Palsy Association – HSUCDP Ivica Bašić; the Croatian Muscular Dystrophy Association – SDDH Mirna Plečaš Ilić; the Federation of Societies of MS – SDMSH Dijana Roginić; the Federation of Associations of Autism – SUZAH Lidija Penko; the Croatian Association for Rare Diseases – HSRB Jadranka Brozd; the Croatian Federation of Associations for Youth and Students with Disabilities – SUMSI Nevena Zubčić, and the Croatian Guide Dog and Mobility Association – CGDMA Mira Katalenić.
Alongside President Milanović was the Adviser to the President for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek