In spite of advances in legislation in Europe, persons with visual impairment still face different obstacles in several domains in life. Enabling them requires of engaged third-sector stakeholders with strong commitments in different areas. Our friends from the Croatian Blind Union (CBU) conveyed this message while presenting their association and its activities in a webinar hosted by EBU on 29th October.
“As the leading organisation for visually impaired people in Croatia, we have carried out more than 140 projects for our communities during the last 25 years”, highlighted CBU’s Project Manager Srđana Šimac. Founded in 1946, this NGO has a strong interdisciplinary team of experts in fields such as education, law, medicine or technical support. Thanks to the strong network built through its regional branches, our Croatian friends’ main activities revolve around monitoring legal regulations, advocating for their communities’ rights, promoting accessibility and adaptive technologies or encouraging access to culture, among others.
Although they already are a well-established actor in the domain of blindness and partial sight in their country, the scope of CBU’s work goes beyond national borders. “We’re an organisation who is always aware of the developments concerning people with disabilities at the EU level”, stated Srđana. “We have been working to spread our knowledge and learn from other non-profit actors through participation in European projects. Soon, we will participate in another one which will focus on building capacities for organisations of visually impaired persons”, she added.
Pushing for proper personal assistance and the important role of Tiflotehna
When it comes to advocacy of the rights of blind and partial sight people, the Croatian Blind Union’s key campaigning areas feature, for instance, the translation of textbooks into braille (in spite of the code not being standardised by law yet) or promoting their communities’ needs in terms of digital accessibility. However, one of CBU’s biggest challenges has been the Personal Assistance Act (7/2023), as the national government didn’t allocate enough funds for its implementation at the beginning. In the context of this law, they’re also advocating for the recognition of the personal assistant profession, whose education is not part of the Croatian’s current academic framework.
While trying to find solutions to visually impaired people from an advocacy point of view, the organisation provides services to make their lives easier through their company Tiflotehna. “We offer aids for people with visual impairment by following the principles of Universal Design”, stated its Chief Executive Officer Petar Glavaš. “We distribute those aids not only in Croatia, but also to neighboring countries such as Serbia or Macedonia”, he added. Eye prosthetics, printing in accessible formats, ensuring the accessibility of buildings or adapting workplaces are some of the main lines of action of Tiflotehna, featuring also accessible tourism through its ERKS Premantura Hostel, which serves as an educational-rehabilitation camp at the same time. A wide range of initiatives with a clear and precious goal: making society more inclusive for blind and partially sighted people.
You can also listen to the full session
If your organisation wishes to present its association and engagements to the EBU community, please send us a message with your proposal to membership@euroblind.org.