Two working meetings centering around the rights of people with disabilities were held on Tuesday between Ljubica Lukacic, of the Health and Social Policy Committee, Milorad Pupovac and Bojan Glavasevic of the Human Rights Committee, and the representatives of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Croatian parliament said in a press release.

The meetings focused on promoting, exercising and improving the rights of people with disabilities, in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The HRW representatives commented on Croatia’s past achievements, as well as the current processes and challenges regarding the implementation of measures aimed at, among other things, de-institutionalisation and the ability to work. They praised Croatia’s progress, saying it should serve as an example to the neighbouring countries.

The participants said that Croatia was among the first countries to ratify the Convention on 1 June 2007, which confirmed that its society and institutions are committed to the realisation of all fundamental human rights of persons with disabilities.

Lukacic said the priority was to treat people with disabilities as partners.

The Human Rights Committee sponsored a round table in March where the topic was the implementation of the UN convention in Croatia, as well as the process of de-institutionalisation.

“At this roundtable people with disabilities had the opportunity to talk about their everyday problems,” Milorad Pupovac said, adding that the Committee supported the equality of the persons with disabilities, as well as the creation of an inclusive society.