Completion of the project “Monitoring and Education on Rights of Persons with Disabilities”

About the project
“Monitoring and Education on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”
The project was supported by the European Union, through the Delegation of the European Union in Montenegro in the period from December 2009 to the end of May 2011. The main objective was to improve the status of persons with disabilities in Montenegro.
During the implementation of the project we monitored the rights of persons with disabilities and analyzed the existing legislation concerning this population, implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and thereby published periodic reports in which we analyzed the situation and status of PWD in Montenegro.
In addition, we monitored the situation at the local level and to that purpose, we visited seventeen municipalities in Montenegro, and through discussions with representatives of local authorities and representatives of local disability organizations, we gained insight into the human rights of persons with disabilities in these municipalities.
The round tables organized in 2010 gathered representatives of disability organizations, government authorities, experts from various fields that argumentatively discussed the situation of people with disabilities in Montenegro and gave specific recommendations and conclusions in order to improve the situation of this population.
The topics of the round tables were: anti-discrimination and equality, accessibility and public transport facilities, assistive technologies and support services, social and health care, education and employment of persons with disabilities.
At the final conference which aimed at defining common measures and future steps in the activities of disability organizations, government institutions, national and international organizations, held on April 28 and 29, 2011, a large number of representatives of PWD, relevant ministries and other state institutions and NGOs dealing with human rights were present. The participants of the Conference submitted agreed-upon conclusions and recommendations to state authorities and other relevant entities in order to improve the situation of persons with disabilities.
The meeting of representatives of national organizations of persons with disabilities, held on May 26 and 27, 2011, brought together a significant number of representatives of these organizations in order to work jointly on an alternative report on implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. On that occasion, the Memorandum on cooperation was signed and a working group to work on the report formed.
The project included an educational section that consisted of:
• Training on Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities
This training was organized for representatives of PWD. There were 18 participants and representatives of PWD from all over Montenegro.
Training topics were: Basic human rights, a review of national legislation in the field of education, employment and accessibility, monitoring implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Convention on the Rights of the PWD (the process of preparation and adoption by the UN, advocacy).
• Workshops with high school students
An important segment of the educational part of the project were also workshops on inclusive education with students of regular high schools.
In total, five workshops on inclusive education were organized with students of regular high schools, as well as students from the Institute for training and vocational rehabilitation of children and youth with disabilities.
The following topics were covered by one-day workshops: human rights of persons with disabilities, inclusive education models and approaches to disability.
Participants were selected on the basis of open competition
The workshops were organized with students of the high schools “Petar Petrović Njegoš” from Danilovgrad and “Slobodan Škerović” from Podgorica, Medical School from Podgorica, as well as the high school in Cetinje.
Human Rights School of PWD
Human Rights School of PWD was attended by people of different educational and social backgrounds, such as representatives of PWD, NGOs, activists, high school seniors, students, state and municipal officials and other individuals interested in this issue. Lecturers at the school were experts in the field of human rights. The school comprised 12 units and students were able to attend lectures on the following topics:
1. Introduction to Human Rights
2. Human rights of persons with disabilities – an overview
3. Human rights of persons with disabilities, the situation in Montenegro and positive legislation
4. Anti-discrimination – the practice and the role of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights in the protection of human rights, with special emphasis on the rights of persons with disabilities
5. Anti-discrimination-law and a champion of human rights in terms of human rights, with special emphasis on the rights of persons with disabilities
6. Judicial protection of human rights in Montenegro, with special emphasis on the rights of people with disabilities
7. Judicial protection of human rights, with special emphasis on the rights of persons with disabilities at the European Court of Human Rights
8. The right to education, inclusive education
9. The right to employment and social protection
10. Support services and accessibility
11. Health care of people with disabilities
12. Why is it important to respect human rights?

We have prepared and issued a special edition of “Disability info” magazine, and printed 500 copies of the UN Convention on Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
At the beginning and the end of the project and the above-mentioned opinion polls were conducted in order to determine how the Montenegrin society perceives people with disabilities and to what extent is discrimination against this population present in Montenegro.
The project was accompanied by a media campaign, with the motto “My Difference – My Right” whose aim was to adequately cover all the activities, as well as to increase awareness of the whole society of the situation of persons with disabilities and the problems they face. The campaign included printing and distributing brochures and posters, and a video and a radio jingle were made as well.