The Executive Director of the Organization …IZ KRUGA – VOJVODINA, Svjetlana Timotic participated in the round table The impact of COVID 19 on the social inclusion of vulnerable groups. The round table was held online, on October 29, from 10:00 to 12:30.
The round table was organized within the framework of the European Union Support Program for Social Housing and Active Inclusion, which is funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
The participants of the round table discussed the challenges that members of the Roma community, children without parental care, women victims of domestic violence and people with disabilities face during the COVID 19 virus pandemic, but also the opportunities that arise for social inclusion of vulnerable groups.
The best practices of social inclusion service providers from the public and civil sector were presented at the meeting, as well as successfully taken measures to reduce the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Svjetlana Timotic, spoke about the basic good practices and opportunities in the field of social inclusion that have arisen from situations caused by the corona virus.
Within the project aimed at improving support for women with disabilities exposed to violence, which the organization …IZ KRUGA – VOJVODINA is implementing in cooperation with the UN Women Agency, with the support of the European Commission, reusable protective masks were made in accordance with the principles of accessible communications. The masks were distributed to hearing impaired women and sign language interpreters in 10 cities in Serbia. Through the Internet media of the Disability Portal and social networks, we continuously informed the community about the existing services available to them, so that they could contact for support and get information about the current situation caused by the corona virus. An instant section of the Quarantine Notes was established, in which the stories of women with different types of disabilities, who live in different cities in Serbia, were published, in order to make the experiences of women with disabilities during the pandemic visible. Also, in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund through the Capacity Building of Women with Disabilities project to advocate for their sexual and reproductive rights, we empowered 59 women with different types of disabilities to self-advocate and advocate. Women with disabilities from five municipalities in Serbia mapped barriers to accessing reproductive health and conducted public events and advocacy activities. Local partners in Vranje, the Human Rights Committee and the Association of Persons Suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, through advocacy activities, verified the Memorandum of Cooperation with health institutions and local government, which decided that the hydraulic table for gynecological examinations from the red kovid zone, where during the pandemic housed, relocated to a green, safe zone, and gynecological examination services are now available to women with disabilities. The memorandum also defines the organization of free preventive examinations for women with disabilities, in coordination with associations of persons with disabilities of the City of Vranje and contact persons of the gynecology and obstetrics department of the General Hospital Vranje and the radiology department for preventive breast examination – says Svjetlana.
The conclusion of the round table is that the challenging and unfavorable position of members of vulnerable social groups was further aggravated during the current health crisis and that decision-making on measures to protect the population must include representatives of vulnerable groups.
Among the participants were representatives of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, local governments, national and local institutions and civil society organizations working to reduce poverty, promote and protect the rights of vulnerable groups.
