School for the Blind, Saturday 4 June 2022, 10:00 am
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Here today should be our dear colleague and friend Zeta Emilianidou. However, due to her well-known health adventure, I am representing her. We all heartily wish her a speedy recovery and return to her duties.
Thank you for inviting me to greet and declare open this year's General Assembly of the Cyprus Confederation of Disabled People's Organisations. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you for the work that your Confederation is doing as the statutory main social partner of the state on disability issues, with the aim of ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities and their full and equal participation in all areas of their lives.
Persons with disabilities constitute a large, vulnerable and important part of Cypriot society.
Persons with disabilities are a large, vulnerable and important part of Cypriot society. It is the obligation of the state first and foremost, but also of all stakeholders in society in general, to support and empower people with disabilities wherever, whenever and to the extent they need it, so that they remain active and integrated cells of society. Your experiences and experiences, your opinions and suggestions are a valuable advisor in developing knowledge and the most appropriate actions to support and empower people.
Fulfilling the rights of people with disabilities as equal members of society and improving their quality of life through reform and additional actions within the framework of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is our vision for people with disabilities.
Our vision for people with disabilities is to fulfil the rights of people with disabilities as equal members of society and to improve their quality of life through reform and additional actions within the framework of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In order to comprehensively address the issues of persons with disabilities, satisfy their rights and implement the state's obligations under the above Convention, the first National Disability Strategy for the decade 2018-2028 was approved by the Council of Ministers in December 2017, under which three-year National Disability Action Plans are being implemented.
The Second National Action Plan for the three-year period 2018-2020, which was completed, included a total of 86 actions from 8 Ministries, of which 54 actions were fully implemented (63%), 26 actions were partially implemented (30%) and 6 were not implemented (7%). With a view to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance during the past three years:
- It has operated, by awarding to contractors after a public tender, 7 new assisted living residences in the community in which 28 people with intellectual disabilities and 4 people with visual disabilities were integrated. The residences provide a matrix of supportive services to the residents to ensure dignified living, support, socialization, recreation, personality development. Another 4 new residences opened additionally in 2021 for 11 people with autism or intellectual disabilities.
- Provided support through the Department of Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities to more than 10,000 persons with disabilities with social protection and social integration benefits. In May 2019, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to increase and extend care and mobility allowances. The total expenditure for the social benefits of the CCEA amounts to €45 million per year.
- Provided support through the Welfare Benefit Administration Service to over 9,000 recipients of Minimum Guaranteed Income with additional disability and care benefits costing €43 million per year.
- The new Disability Assessment Centre in Larnaca was opened to serve and reduce the inconvenience for citizens of the Larnaca and Famagusta Districts who are served in Nicosia.
- Conducted disability assessments for 20,000 citizens at the three Disability Assessment Centres in Nicosia, Limassol-Pafos and Larnaca-Amohostos, delivering comprehensive and objective findings on their disability status and their rights to social benefits and services.
- Contracted and operated the Family Intervention and Support Centre for Children with Autism, introducing new innovative counselling and psychosocial support and home education services nationwide.
- Implemented the Recruitment of Persons with Disabilities in the Wider Public Sector (Special Provisions) Law, which increased the number of recruits in the Education Service, the Civil Service and Public Law Entities from 2010 to 2020 to a total of 251 persons.
- Subsidized 23 employment programs with support through the recruitment by non-governmental organizations of job coaches supporting in the open labor market more than 350 people with mental or intellectual disabilities.
- Subsidised new self-employment units for people with disabilities.
- Subsidized all of the operating costs of the CPSOA and much of the operating costs of programs of several organizations that provide services to people with disabilities.
We are currently implementing the Third National Disability Action Plan 2021-2023, approved by a Cabinet Decision in January 2022, which includes 135 actions (58 new actions and 77 ongoing actions) to be implemented by 8 Ministries and 3 Deputy Ministries.
It is noted that during the formulation of the Action Plan of our country, we took into account the requests, opinions and suggestions of the representative organizations of persons with disabilities and especially of KYSOA and the Pancyprian Alliance for Disability, an umbrella of organizations in which other organizations besides KYSOA participate and which submitted their written submissions. We also took into account the results of a public consultation conducted specifically for this purpose, the recommendations of Independent State Officials related to disability, the Concluding Observations issued on 8.5.2017 by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities following the dialogue and consideration of the First Report of Cyprus on the implementation of the Convention, as well as the European Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030. Our aim in all our actions is to keep up with current trends and practices in the approach to disability, taking into account the demands of the citizens directly concerned, but also within the framework of the capabilities and resources of the state.
I mention examples that stand out among the new actions implemented or expected to be implemented by the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, during the current three-year period:
- The further expansion of the network of housing and supported living programmes for adults, mainly with intellectual disability or autism, co-financed by the European Social Fund with an expenditure of €20 million for the new programming period 2021-2027.
- The extension of the operation of the first Family Intervention and Support Centre for Children with Autism, co-financed by the European Social Fund at a cost of €5 million for the new programming period 2021-2027.
- The implementation of a new project for a "New Network of Social Inclusion Services for People with Disabilities" with the involvement of organisations of people with disabilities and other economic operators, co-financed by the European Social Fund at a cost of €30 million for the new programming period 2021-2027.
- The consultation and formulation of a new legislation for the introduction of new independent living support services, such as personal assistant, counsellor, trainer, in connection with the implementation of the "New Network of Social Inclusion Services" project. A new cycle of consultation has already begun with a meeting of Minister Zeta Aimylianidou with the CIOA in this context and will continue with the involvement of the Legislation Commissioner.
- The provision of incentives and support for the creation of social enterprises by people with disabilities, with the formulation and implementation of advisory and vocational training tools in entrepreneurship.
- The transposition into Cypriot law and harmonisation with Directive (EU) 2019/882 on accessibility of goods and services.
- The completion of the consultation and legislative drafting of the new bill for the support of persons with disabilities in their decision making
- The implementation of the new pilot project "Provision of Decision Support Counselling Services for Persons with Disabilities" which has already been assigned to your Confederation for implementation, in cooperation with the Department of Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. The project was approved by a Cabinet Decision dated 22.3.2022 and within the framework of the project, the CPSOA will recruit and train three Decision Making Support Counsellors, who will provide free services to at least thirty adults with disabilities to support their decision making in the areas of their daily life e.g. managing their daily schedule, communication, education, living, employment, health, recreation, leisure, social relations, social activities, etc. The results of the project, which will initially be piloted, will feed into the preparation of the new decision support bill. The total cost of implementing the new pilot programme will amount to €50,000 for one year and will be funded by the Department for the Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities, in addition to the annual grant of €70,000 allocated to cover all the operating costs of the CPSOA.
- The reinstatement and modernisation of the suspended Holiday Grant Scheme and its implementation from this year, following a decision of the Council of Ministers in May 2022
- The inclusion of all recipients of disability benefits in the vulnerable groups of the population, which was decided very recently to support them with a lump sum against accuracy
The actions of the Ministry already implemented or planned to be implemented and the European resources already secured for their implementation, upgrade the policy, legislation and practical results of the social services and social benefits provided to people with disabilities in our country.
Above all, of course, there is a need to improve perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards the diversity of people and to improve the level of respect of Cypriot society towards the rights of people with disabilities. In this area, everyone, government agencies, organisations, private sector bodies, every citizen individually, has a role to play in fostering the right culture of approaching disability.
We look forward to your cooperation to build together additional reforms and innovations to improve the quality of life of citizens with disabilities. We have common new goals and the achievement of these goals is facilitated and accelerated when the disability movement both demands and assists government agencies to deliver even more.
In closing, I congratulate you once again for your valuable contribution.
Thank you and I declare the proceedings of your conference open.
(IK)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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