Respecting and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities and removing all barriers in order to enable their inclusion in social and political life, raising public awareness on this issue, initiating legislative acts that will enable it, are some of the issues that Inter-Party Parliamentary Group for Rights of Persons with Disabilities (IPPG) will tackle, which was launched Tuesday in the Parliament.
Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi addressing the meeting on launch of Inter-Party Parliamentary Group for Rights of Persons with Disabilities, said that all legislative acts that will be adopted should facilitate the lives of these persons, provide equal treatment, access and opportunities for every citizen, regardless of ethnic, religious, gender, social and cultural orientation and of physical ability or disability.
“I believe that the most difficult barriers to overcome are the ones as raising awareness in our way of thinking and way of acting. It’s our legal, moral and ethical duty to work to remove those barriers, to commit ourselves to the promotion and protection of human rights and to prevent discrimination on any grounds, and this should guide us in every step we take to change, and adjust of the laws in our country,” Xhaferi noted.
“Because life has challenges, expected and unexpected barriers, however, let us not allow that we, the people are the ones who will create new difficulties, on the contrary, let’s focus on enabling accessibility, inclusivity for each individual because since we are all unique and special in a certain way,” Xhaferi added.
British Ambassador Rachel Galloway said that it is necessary to continue working on the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities in all spheres of social life as well as providing conditions for their political participation.
“IPPG, Parliament and political parties must be as accessible as possible, sign language translation to be introduced, websites to be accessible, key documents to be provided in audio form, and appropriate meeting rooms to be available,” Galloway said, adding that the Electoral Code must be comprehensive, polling stations must be accessible to citizens and every institution must be accessible for everyone.
According to Elena Kocoska, representative of Polio Plus – Movement against Disability, accessibility does not mean only accessibility to facilities and institutions, but also right of access to information.
She said that it is necessary to work on raising public awareness, but also on respecting and promoting the rights of these persons.
SDSM MP Jovan Mitreski, who was elected chairman of the IPPG, said that this form of parliamentary action, although informal, has so far shown successful results in efforts to ensure everyone has the right to equality.
At today’s meeting, the MPs Eli Panova, Halil Snopche and Merita Kolchi Koxhachiku were also elected as deputy chairpersons of IPPG.
