”Select ALL” e-Accessibility Assessment Report for South Eastern Europe
Progress in the region varies greatly — allowing of course that ratification by different countries was spread over a five-year period. Croatia, for instance, has already delivered its initial report on progress to the UNCRPD Committee in October 2011, about four years after ratification, 31 one of about 24 countries to have done so. Currently, the reports of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia (which are expected soon) are due, and that of Moldova later in 2012. Most countries have appointed or identified a focal point for the UNCRPD within government, to act as a contact both internationally and nationally, though some such as Montenegro (ratified November 2009), Macedonia (ratified December 2011) and Albania (not yet ratified) are still in the process. The process in Albania, for instance, has created an Inter-Ministerial Working Group to look at all questions relating to the UNCRPD. The Focal Point is usually within the ministry directly responsible for improving the circumstances of people with disabilities (if one exists), and is linked to the coordination mechanism that has been set up. However, in several countries there has been institutional confusion regarding the roles and duties of different ministries in implementation of the UNCRPD. This is partly due to nature of the Convention itself which cuts across sectors and applies to various spheres of life ranging from access to public spaces and buildings to access to technologies, products and services related to the information society and social communication media, education, health, transport, sports, goods and services open to public, relations with justice administration and cultural heritage- and as such requires expertise in various fields and an interdisciplinary approach. Although the UNCRPD focal point should, according to the UNCRPD itself and the overall governance principles be the responsible party with the full leverage in the implementation process of all the aspects of the Convention, in reality due to the lack of substantive capacity in these various fields the focal point often falls short of keeping up with the UNCRPD implementation process- and responsibility is delegated and shifted elsewhere often resulting in standstill. The result is a worrying picture that shows how the lack of clarity and consequently accountability in this context, leads to further delays in implementation of the UNCRPD and to deteriorated condition of persons with disabilities in society. The implementation of the UNCRPD is, for obvious reasons, generally integrated within the national policy and strategies for people with disabilities. For instance, in Croatia, the two entities responsible for the National Strategy for the Equalisation of Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities — the Ministry of Family, Veterans’ Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity, and the Committee for Persons with Disabilities — have also been given responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the UNCRPD. Similarly, in Montenegro, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare oversees both the UNCRPD and the Strategy for the Inclusion of Persons with Disability. In Romania, the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection services is the Focal Point for the UNCRPD and also looks after the National Strategy for the Social Protection, Integration and Inclusion of People with Disabilities, though the monitoring framework has yet to be established. 31See http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/Sessions.aspx. Only a few have been approved by the committee (not including Croatia), which meets twice a year. The others are in the process of being scheduled. Once submitted, the full text will be available here. The Croatian report is available, for the moment, until it is approved, at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/futuresessions.aspx.
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