There were 31 percent more complaints submitted to the Ombudswoman for persons with disabilites' office in 2017 compared to 2016, according to the annual report the Ombudswoman, Anka Slonjsak, presented to the Parliament on Thursday.

The majority of complaints were linked to violations of the rights guaranteed by laws and conventions, and the length of procedures in the fields of social welfare, employment and labour, as well as accessibility, pension insurance, and health and education of persons with disabilities.

Ombudswoman Slonjsak said that decision makers’ excuses that enough had been done (for persons with disabilites), that there was not enough money, or that the circumstances were not right, should not be accepted.
“Instead of shifting responsibility, we need to channel our skills and energy into finding solutions, not into burying the problem or postponing,” Slonjsak said.

Over 70,000 people with disabilities receive the average pension of only 1,795 kuna (€243), she said.

MPs have supported the right of persons with disabilities to participate in their communities, instead of living in social welfare institutions, but they said that de-institutionalisation needs to be implemented systemically.
The Office’s recommendations to the state and local government are a reflection of the very real and often extraordinary problems persons with disabilities and parents of children with difficulties face, and they must be the basis for positive changes, Slonjsak said.

Persons with disabilities are still exposed to segregation, life in the community is made impossible, she said, adding that there is a noticeable negative trend in their presence in social welfare institutions, and an increase of in-home care.

Another big problem, she said, is the lack of accessible spaces and appropriate transport of persons with disabilities, both of which require more active participation by the local community.

Persons with disabilities make up some 12 percent of the Croatian population.

(€1 = 7.38 kuna)