Dear friends,

The twentieth session of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities took place in Geneva on 3 and 4 September. At this session, the Bulgarian delegation was led by Mincho Koralski (Executive Director of the Agency for People with Disabilities), accompanied by about twenty representatives of almost all ministries and agencies related to the people with disabilities in Bulgaria. The purpose of the hearing was to provide answers to a number of questions raised by the Committee following the first Bulgarian report on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In response, the Bulgarian delegation misled the Committee saying that the state was implementing disability policies in accordance with the Convention. None of the reports reflected the real situation of Bulgarians with disabilities!

On July 29, 2016, an agreement was concluded between the Center for Independent Living and the Municipality of Lukovit, which initiated a cooperation between the local government and our organization. We hope that this cooperation will succeed in introducing new policies in local governance with regard to social policies and, later on, as a model for the whole country. The agreement is valid for 2 years, the time remaining from the project implemented by the Center for Independent Living in Lukovit under the name “LSD – Learning for Social Development” or in other words – Learning for Social Development.

You can get acquainted with the project here, where you will also find the agreement between the Municipality of Lukovit and the Center for Independent Living and much other information about its activities.

From 5^th to 9^th of September 2016, the European Network for Independent Living – ENIL organized a study visit about the deinstitutionalization in Stockholm, Sweden. The purpose of the visit was to present the steps taken by Sweden to close institutional care for people with disabilities – a process that ended 16 years ago on 01.01.2000. The key messages of the study visit were captured in a short film, which ENIL has been distributing since Friday (07.10.2016) 

On September 26th, at the Anel Hotel, Sofia, 14 Todor Alexandrov Str, from 10 am to 3 pm, Center for Independent Living will hold the conference on topic – How Social Are the Social Policies for People with Disabilities in Bulgaria? From group etiquette to individual approach and support for the participation of every disabled person, the two main topics will be:

Dear colleagues and friends,

Over the last 10 months, a team of analysts from the Center for Independent Living has been researching Bulgarian practices in 3 main topics for social inclusion for people with disabilities, namely the quality of assistance services, benefits and technical aids, as well as the process of deinstitutionalization.

On April 13th at 10 am at the Hotel Accord will be held three thematic meetings with the following topics and order:

• from 10:00 to 14:00 o’clock in the large conference hall. The topic is Personal assistance for disabled people
• from 10:00 to 14:00 o’clock in the small hall (unfortunately inaccessible for disabled people). The theme is The deinstitutionalisation in Bulgaria
• from 15:00 to 18:00 o’clock in the large conference hall. The theme is Benefits for disabled people.

The meetings are organized by CIL, the project “Free choice or free of choice”- advocacy of human rights of disabled people”, funded under the program for support of NGOs in Bulgaria under the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area. 

Meetings are open and anyone wishing to attend feel invited.