Don't Forget These People!

Belgrade, 08/10/2007 - LET US IMPROVE THE POSITION OF PARENTS WITH THE DISABLED CHILDREN – CHANGE THE LAW!

There are more than 6,000 registered children in Serbia who suffer from severe mostly innate body and mental disorders.

Their parents suffer with these children too, unable to help them to walk or to eat and drink independently, to speak or control their biological needs, to see and better understand the world around them. This tragedy is also enhanced by the constant fear for providing the infusion, inhalers, diapers, catheters, breathing masks, exercises and many other things their children could not live without. All these things are also a very great financial burden for a family, so it is necessary for both parents to work in order to make the purchase of these things possible. On the other hand, no institution cannot look after a child like its mother or family in general, and these children require 24/7 care and attention.

Instead of releasing the parent of the disabled child of all obligations, guarantee his employment and secure his or her regular income, the current law put the parent under a great dilemma:

• either to put the child in the specialized institution and leave it to destiny

• or give away his or her rights to work and income to be beside the child.

In both cases the child will not have parent love and special kind of care, and the child needs both to live.

Although there are many forms of social security in our country, they are inadequate for these situations. In other European countries, mother with heavily handicapped children no one forces to work or not to work and be left with no money for living.

Therefore, we demand that the single parent families and custodians of the disabled children are granted the position of employed people and that they receive regular income based on the average income in the Republic of Serbia.