Pristina, December 2, 2022
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, today visited the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities – HANDIKOS, where he was welcomed by its chairman, Afrim Maliqi, and where he talked with the children of this center who were accompanied by parents and representatives of persons with disabilities.
On this occasion, Prime Minister Kurti said that the Government has declared 2022 the year of persons with disabilities, so that from this year every year will be better in terms of equal access and opportunities for everyone. He has mentioned the Government’s legal initiatives and financial support for persons with disabilities, which will help and ease the life of this sensitive category of our society.
“The office of the Prime Minister, the Government of the Republic will always have an open door and an open line for your interest, but also for any call that you will address to us about the problems you have, whether they are general or special”, said Prime Minister Kurti.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Kurti gave gifts to the children with special needs who were present.
Full speech of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti:
Good afternoon everyone,
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for such a warm welcome on the eve of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
We have declared 2022 the year of persons with disabilities, but we have not declared this year, so that the next year will be weaker in terms of support, on the contrary we have declared this year, the year of persons with disabilities, that from this year every year be better in terms of equal access and opportunity for all of you.
On this occasion, it is worth noting that the Draft Law on Evaluation, Status Recognition, Benefits and Services for Persons with Disabilities is in the cabinet of the Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers, Mr. Hekuran Murati, and is under review and for any development we will keep you informed and we are interested in moving as quickly as possible.
Next, as the Prime Minister, we have initiated the process of amending the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo for the inclusion of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, namely Article 22. So, a right which is internationally recognized should also be standardized with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, by amending it.
Then, one of the achievements is also for blind persons, the initiation of the process for the creation of Vocal Synthesis in the Albanian language, thus enabling blind persons to use digital texts according to Article 11 of the Law for Blind Persons, bear in mind that we need to make the books audiobooks, not just written so that those who are blind can have access to all books even though they can’t see.
The other is that at the request of the Association of the Blind in Kosovo, in order to facilitate access, the Office of the Prime Minister has allocated the means to provide a Braille Printer, where you will be able to access any document within the Office of the Prime Minister for blind persons who must therefore have every text also in Braille.
Therefore, the participation of Persons with Disabilities in the Paralympic Games, we as a government have supported training programs for athletes, in which case we have allocated 100,000 euros of annual support, i.e. for each year, to the Paralympic Committee, which has also made us part of the international organization of the International Paralympic Committee and another 40 thousand euros for the Blind Sports Federation.
At the 106th meeting of the Government, which we held on November 9, the Administrative Instruction was approved for the designation of the List, Types and Assistive Devices that are provided free of charge to Paraplegic and Tetraplegic Persons, which serve for Movement, Prevention and Assistance.
And within the Calendar of Activities for the year 2022, MESTI, the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, has hired 100 assistants in schools throughout the country for children with special needs and we have allocated a budget for 500 such for the year 2023. So we have increased the number of assistants fivefold, the number of assistants for persons with disabilities. Because it is important that persons with disabilities, persons with special needs, are citizens who receive the highest quality and professional services and are not only the burden of their parents or family members, but of our entire society.
We have allocated scholarships to 13 students with disabilities and we are implementing Measure 1.6 Supporting the employment of persons with special needs.
We know that the state should help the most those who have the greatest needs and first where we have urgent things. Therefore, the category of Community of Persons with Disabilities will always be in the focus of our government and I thank you very much for your cooperation, attention and patience.
The office of the Prime Minister, the Government of the Republic will always have an open door and an open line for your interest, but also for any call that you will address to us about the problems you have, whether they are general or special.
Thank you all once again.
Last modified: December 7, 2022