The Republic Center for Support of Persons with Intellectual Disability – PORAKA, supported by the National Democratic Institute, on 15.12.2011 organized Round Table “UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – Future Challenges”.
The Round Table was organized with an aim to discuss the challenges for effective implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and to point out new perspectives for realization of the human rights of persons with disabilities that are ahead for the relevant stakeholders in our country. At the same time, this Round Table was the final event of the program “Rights to Become Reality – 100 Days for Ratification”, which the Republic Center – PORAKA has been implementing it in cooperation with the National Democratic Institute. Moderator of the Round Table was Vasilka Dimoska MD, Progam Manager in PORAKA, and Mr. Cedomir Trajkovski, President of PORAKA, and Mr. Chris Henshaw, Director of the National Democratic Institute opened it. In the thematic part aimed towards the challenges in the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in terms of the executive and legislative authorities, the first to speak was the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Mr. Spiro Ristovski. Then spoke the Chairman of the Committee on Labour and Social Policy in the Assembly of RM, Mrs. Cvetanka Ivanova, followed by Mrs. Nevenka Krusarovska, Deputy Ombudsman, Department for protection of children’s rights and persons with disabilities. Next were Mr. Branimir Jovanovski, President of the National Coordinative Body for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and Mrs. Liljana Popovska, Chairman of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the Assembly of RM. The second thematic part of the Round Table was dedicated to the mechanisms for effective implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and speakers were Mrs. Silva Pesic, National Human Rights Advisor in the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Macedonia, and Mr. Zvonko Savreski, President of Polio Plus.
Participants on the Round Table were: representatives of the National Council of Disability Organizations of Macedonia, National Coordinative Body for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities, representatives of governmental institutions and local self-government, as well as NGOs, persons with disability and their parents.
The participants of the Round Table welcomed the recent ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol by the Assembly of Republic of Macedonia and emphasized that with the ratification, the state affirms the socio-developmental determination in creating policies and building democratic society with equal rights and opportunities for its citizens. Persons with disability and their families expect the Convention to cause immediate commitments by the state in order to advance the legal possibilities and their practice in everyday life, in all areas addressed in the Convention.
