EU projects for children with special needs
EU funds innovative projects for children with special needs
At the annual Human
Rights conference ‘Are children’s rights, human rights?’ held at the European
Union’s Representative Office in Russia, experts discussed the experience of
EU-funded projects aimed at helping children with special needs.
According to Jo
Rodgers, a representative from ‘Partnership for Every Child’, a centre for the
development of innovative social services, projects funded by the EU allow
Russia to test and approve new programmes that aim to help children. Many new
services for families with children have resulted from the financial support
given to NGOs for the implementation of various innovative programmes.
Experts have pointed
out how working with families in crisis and developing various forms of social
services for families and children yields positive results. The foundation
‘Parental Bridge’, for example, is implementing a training programme and
further support for parents who have decided to adopt children from children’s institutions.
Meanwhile, state funding is aimed at providing basic services.
Anna Bitov, President
of the Centre for Curative Pedagogics, explains that the EU has around 15 years
of experience supporting projects to assist families and children with special
needs in Russia. She said: «This partnership helps us to find strategic
solutions to problems.» Experts say outside help can bring the best
practices for working with children with special needs to the State welfare
programmes for children in Russia.
Moreover, Bitov noted
that although there are a small number of schools where children with
disabilities can receive specialised secondary or higher education, there are
no jobs available for them. However in the Pskov region, in Vladimir and in the
Republic of Buryatia, training programmes and employment for those with
disabilities have been successful.
