Description
The project addresses the cases of discrimination and violation of the rights of people with disabilities in Bulgaria. The project aims at recording, disclosing and analyzing cases of systematic discrimination and making recommendations about changes in the personal assistant and community care services. First, a methodology will be created based on the UN Convention and a group of advisors will be set up. Second, a documentary analysis of the legal framework related to deinstitutionalization will be carried out. Third, 30 interviews with disabled people (20 living in the community and 10 in residential care) and 3 discussions with 20 participants each will be held. Next, 4 analytical reports on the personal assistant and social care services and deinstitutionalization will be prepared. Finally, the reports will be disseminated in the printed and online media. The project will benefit people with disabilities, their relatives, the relevant NGOs and decision-makers.
Summary of project results
The project was necessary because it is always important to expose instances of violated human rights of people with disabilities. The main goal of the project was to register, disclose and analyze instances of systemic discrimination and make specific recommendations for changes. The undoubted achievement of the project is the disclosure and analysis of various instances of violations of human rights from the point of view of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and the systemic decisions as part of the social policy in Bulgaria. The prepared reports helped many people become aware of the fact that the budget for social benefits was wasted to maintain the status quo and that a radical change was needed. Not only the final output, the reports, but also the activities carried out, i.е. the road to the final results, enlightened the participants. The people with disabilities involved received additional information and shared experience which helped them understand better their rights laid down in the UN Convention. The participants representing the other stakeholders also had the opportunity to see disability from a different perspective, i.e. the perspective of human rights, and not medical diagnoses. People with disabilities and policy-makers were the main beneficiaries of the project outputs. The first became aware of the decline of social policies and the latter of the fact that there is monitoring. That was yet another quality analysis prepared by the organization which reinforced the human rights protection mission of the Centre for Independent Living. The project promoter managed again to find and involve quality experts to survey the social policies in Bulgaria. The developed expert potential enabled the organisation to consider other similar surveys related to the application of the UN Convention.
Summary of bilateral results