Association "Here’s a Helping Hand": Youth with Disabilities Not Disregarded by Serbian Legislation

Belgrade, street (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Ana Knezevic, president of the association "Here’s a Helping Hand” (Evo Ruke), said on Dec. 2 that Serbian laws and regulations had disregarded young people with disabilities, even though they constituted a particularly vulnerable category that deserved special attention by the authorities in Serbia.

Speaking at a conference on the status and needs of young people with intellectual disorders and disabilities, hosted by the Media Center in Belgrade, Knezevic noted that the amount the state invested in social protection and improvements to the position of youth with intellectual difficulties had not been increased in years.

"During every political turbulence, it is the hungry, the poor, the sick, and their caregivers who suffer. We need a system that does not rely on individuals," Knezevic said. Dijana Grbovic, the  mother of a child with a disability, said it was unfair that the state abandoned the parents of children with disabilities.

A special education expert, Marko Kosutic, noted that individuals with intellectual disabilities were unable to advocate for their own rights, but professionals in the field could. "Our profession is very silent. One of the challenges is that social welfare struggles with the consequences of other systems’ failures," Kosutic stated.

The project "How Young People with Disabilities Really Live – Adjusting to Real Life" is  implemented by "Evo Ruke",  and funded by the European Union.