The National Annual Forum of NASO was attended by special guests and long-time partners of NASO from Europe – Mr. Timothy Ghilain, who is the interim Executive Director of the European Association of Service Providers for People with Disabilities (EASPD) and Ms. Valerija Buzan, Vice President of EASPD. Both representatives shared their impressions of the Forum as well as good experiences from Europe and their work.
Mr. Ghilain welcomed the Forum participants and expressed his gratitude for the invitation and the opportunity to participate in the event. He said, “We have all been through health, economic, human, and political crises recently. I thank everyone for the daily work to address the crises. I want to underline that the EU is also working to overcome these crises. Rest assured that they have the EU’s attention.”
In his presentation, he talked about EASPD’s work over the last few years, and the projects they have been working on. Some of the work includes:
In 2021, a Long Term Care Strategy for people with disabilities was created.
In 2022, a Social Care Strategy was created. This strategy covers and supports not only people with disabilities but also older people who need support.
In 2023, a Handbook for Inclusive Living was created and a mental health initiative was launched for both people with disabilities and the social workers who care for them.
In 2024, a European Framework for Quality of Life for People with Disabilities is being prepared, through which the framework sets a benchmark for ‘quality of life for people with disabilities’.
Mr. Ghilain added: “Of course, EU regulations and initiatives do not have a direct impact at the national level, but this gives us the opportunity to work together at the national and European levels to make reform happen and make progress. To be modern and respect human rights, we need a strong legal framework, reliable funding, well-trained professionals, and a holistic strategy. All of these can be achieved, which is why we are here together with the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, social service providers, teams, municipalities, and everyone involved to work for this change.”
The Executive Director also mentioned one of the projects they are working on in Greece, where the government has asked the European Commission for help and the Commission is funding a project to develop a deinstitutionalization strategy over the next 5 years. In his closing remarks, Mr. Ghilain appealed that EASPD looks forward to all stakeholders sharing their suggestions and working together towards the development of social services and policies.
Ms. Valerija Buzan, for her part, shared about the challenges facing all humanity. She noted that the last decade has been marked with changes in all spheres of social life, as globalization and the breakdown of human values have brought us to where we are now. In her emotional introduction, she said, “The misused term democracy is used less for marginalized people. A letter, a word, a thought, a person with a soul have more meaning than numbers which have become the masters of humanity, society.”
The Vice President, further noted that the rights of people with special needs should not be different and their status should not be downgraded. Also, by presenting brief statistics, she said that in many European countries, the number of people in need is increasing, which leads to an increase in the need for professionals in the field. She added that the number of unskilled workers is significant as there are no set requirements for their competencies. It is important to know what social workers can do to support people in need. To this end, we need to focus on the professional development of these people, and support for workers needs to be universally accessible.
Ms. Buzan concluded with a plea: Where there is a will, there are ways! In the past, NASO and EASPD worked together on social issues. International project work is a way to check and evaluate the work of our partners! Working with people from vulnerable groups is not just a job, but a way of life.
A special guest of the Forum was Mr. Luk Zelderlo, former Secretary General of EASPD, who had a special participation in the events, both as an Ambassador of Partnership and Success of NASO and as a current expert at the European Social Fund+.
