Transparent and Effective Public Services for People with Disabilities
A Program Developed in the Municipalities of Perrenjas, Belsh and Cërrik
The Service of Love Diakonia Agapes Office of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, in cooperation with the “Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” (MEDPAK) Association and the Albanian Center for the Integration of People with Special Needs (QSHINJNV) are implementing a project titled “Transparent and Effective Public Services for People with Disabilities” in the municipalities of Perrenjas, Belsh and Cërrik. This six-month project (1 February – 31 July 2018) is supported by the sub-grant fund of the “Networking and exchange of knowledge between CSOs in the field of anti-corruption and good governance at the local level” – Round II, within the CIVILISC project, funded by the EU and implemented by IDM, in cooperation with the RiskMonitor Foundation in Bulgaria.
The purpose of the project is for the municipalities to provide more transparent and effective services to People with Disabilities (PWDs), in cooperation with the civil society organizations. In order to achieve this, the three partner organizations have undertaken activities to inform, train, motivate and promote people with disabilities and their families so that they have better social services in their municipalities.
A group of 24 people, called Change Agents (who are disabled people, family members or caretakers), attended a four-day training on topics such as community mobilization and public relations; Advocacy and lobbying; Leadership and Creation of Groups; Fundraising etc. Through these trainings, their aim was to encourage people to mobilize other members of the PWD community to participate in the monitoring of the services provided by the respective municipalities for PWDs and to be part of the policy-making processes for this category.
Also, in all three municipalities where the project is being implemented, awareness raising campaigns have been organized to increase the level of information of the community and the families with disabled members with regard to the National Strategy for People with Disabilities (2016-2020); Recognition of Law no. 9355 “On Social Assistance and Services”; and the public services provided by the Albanian government for people with disabilities.
In the framework of this project, a study was carried out on the local public services offered to people with disabilities. The study closely monitored the reasons why persons with disabilities and their families did not benefit from these services, assessed the role of each public institution at the local level and the delivery of information to the parents of persons with disabilities regarding these services. The findings of the study were discussed in three roundtables organized in each municipality, attended by representatives of relevant municipalities, employees of public institutions (education, health, employment) and representatives of partner organizations, along with the Change Agents.
Roundtables discussions were closed with an action plan for undertaking concrete steps towards improving the public services provided to people with disabilities in the respective municipalities.
Finally, the project aims the establishment of three groups of parents and persons with disabilities (one in each municipality) who will maintain links and stay in contact with public institutions for services planned to be provided by the state to persons with disabilities.
By Brunilda Kello
