Access to Information for People with Disabilities (RS0061)

Brief description of the Commitment

This commitment implies the drafting of an (informative) Support Map for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), based on the visualization of machine- readable data of importance for the daily life of PWDs, namely:  about the contact points of all Centers for Social Work in the Republic of Serbia and their physical accessibility for PWDs,  about the contact points of all registered social enterprises,  about the contact points of all enterprises offering professional rehabilitation and employment of PWDs,  about the contact points of all active associations and unions that achieve goals in areas of importance for PWDs,  about the contact persons in the procedure for exercising the right to a value added tax refund for the import of motor vehicles,  about the contact points of training providers for PWDs, with a decision on approval for the implementation of professional rehabilitation measures and activities,  about the contact points of the National Employment Service relevant for the employment of PWDs,  about the allocated budget funds based on the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities. For the purpose of creating the Map, the competent authorities will previously collect, standardize and publish the aforementioned data in a machine- readable format on the Open Data Portal (https://data.gov.rs/sr/). The creation of the aforementioned Map, which will be available on the website of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs (https://www.minrzs.gov.rs/sr), will enable PWDs, as well as all other interested citizens, to gain information about available support mechanisms in the entire territory of the Republic of Serbia in one place and in a quick, simple, easily accessible and understandable way.

Problem Definition

1. What problem does the commitment aim to address? Persons with Disabilities’s (PWD’s) protection is one of the most sensitive and specific elements of social development, economic and, above all, social policy in general.73 As part of the reform processes which have been carried out in the Republic of Serbia in recent years, significant progress has been made in the area of improving the position of PWDs; however, bearing in mind that the numerous risks of their social exclusion tend to increase, it is necessary, by using a multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach, to constantly act by undertaking different activities in order to minimize such risks. The problems faced by PWDs, widespread stereotypes and prejudices, as well as the social and economic position they are in, make them a largely vulnerable and marginalized group.74 At the same time, the Republic of Serbia has a developed legislative, strategic and institutional framework dedicated to the protection and improvement of the position of PWDs. Numerous regulations and planning documents are in force, headed by the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and the Strategy for Improving the Position of Persons with Disabilities in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2020-2024, which seek to provide various types of support and improve the overall quality of life of this vulnerable category of population.75 However, as in other cases, a very important prerequisite for exercising the rights of PWDs is adequate availability of relevant information. This aspect is particularly important for specific social categories, which certainly include PWDs, for which it is particularly significant that they can obtain the necessary information about their rights, as well as about the forms and "addresses” for support available to them, in an efficient, simple, easily accessible and understandable way. On the one hand, a good part of the information about the available support for PWDs is publicly available, as a rule, on the websites of the competent authorities. However, on the other hand, they are generally not easy to reach, because they are mostly found on the websites of several different public administration bodies or on parts of websites that are not easily visible and accessible. Also, it is evident that there is a need and interest to make available the information on some newer types of support, such as social enterprises, but also to specify data on financial support provided to associations and unions which achieve goals in areas of importance for PWDs. In other words, despite being generally publicly available, information about entities which provide support to PWDs, and which may in a certain way represent the "first addresses" for solving their problems, should be systematized and centralized in one place, in order to facilitate PWDs' access not only to relevant information, but also to specific types and "addresses" of support.

2. What are the causes of the problem? The main causes of the problem are reflected in the fact that publicly available relevant information about PWD support is generally not easy to find, is scattered throughout the websites of several public administration bodies, and is not presented in a systematic and simple way, which would enable its effective search and use. Also, part of the information that could be important for PWDs, such as the physical accessibility of Centers for Social Work, contact points of registered social enterprises or all active associations and unions that deal with the position of PWDs, are not publicly available.

Commitment Description

1. What has been done so far to solve the problem? As it was pointed out, a good part of the information on the "addresses" for providing support to PWDs is publicly available; thus on the MoLEVSA’s website, at the following link: https://www.minrzs.gov.rs/sr/dokumenti/ostalo/sektor-za-zastitu-osoba-sa-invaliditetom, one can find numerous relevant information and data such as, for example: data on enterprises offering professional rehabilitation and employment of PWDs, associations dealing with PWDs, persons in the process of exercising the right to a VAT refund for the import of motor vehicles, training providers for PWDs, etc. On the second page of the MoLEVSA’s website, at the following link https://www.minrzs.gov.rs/sr/konkursi?page=1, information on budget funds allocated on the basis of the Permanent open competition for the improvement of the position of PWDs in the Republic of Serbia in 2023 is available. This information is provided in the form of various tables, most often as Word or PDF documents, and is thus not easily searchable. Also, the list of Centers for Social Work, as very important institutions of the PWD system, is available on the website of the Ministry of Family Welfare and Demography, at the following link: https://www.test-minbpd.gov.rs/centri-za-socijalni-rad/, but is not searchable.

2. What solution are you proposing? Based on the described problem and its causes, the commitment implies the creation of an (informative) PWD Support Map, within which relevant data and information of importance for the daily life of this vulnerable category of population would be collected, systematized and made publicly available in one place. More precisely, the Map would include the following data:  about the contact points of all Centers for Social Work in the Republic of Serbia and their physical accessibility for PWDs,  about the contact points of all registered social enterprises,  about the contact points of all enterprises offering professional rehabilitation and employment of PWDs,  about the contact points of all active associations and unions that achieve goals in areas of importance for PWDs,  about the contact persons in the procedure for exercising the right to a value added tax refund for the import of motor vehicles,  about the contact points of training providers for PWDs, with a decision on approval for the implementation of professional rehabilitation measures and activities,  about the contact points of the National Employment Service which are of importance for the employment of PWDs,  about the allocated budget funds based on the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities. In order to create a suitable map, the competent authorities will collect, standardize and publish the aforementioned data in a machine-readable format on the Open Data Portal: (https://data.gov.rs/sr/) and update them regularly, in accordance with the expected dynamics. In the next step, through API integration, this data will be automatically linked to a visual solution that will be created and posted on the MoLEVSA’s website, also as part of the implementation of this commitment.

3. What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment? The creation of the PWD Support Map shall make the information on available mechanisms and "addresses" for PWD support in the entire territory of the Republic of Serbia available in one place, in a quick, simple, easily accessible, searchable and understandable manner.

Commitment Analysis

1. How will the commitment promote transparency? The commitment shall significantly facilitate access to relevant information of importance for PWDs through their systematization and publication in one place, i.e. within the Map that will be created during the implementation of the commitment. On the one hand, information that is already publicly available shall be centralized, which will facilitate its access, and on the other hand, new data sets, which have not been available thus far, will be made publicly available, thus increasing the transparency of the administration in this domain. An added value is reflected in the fact that the creation of the Map is based on the reuse of open data, given that all the relevant data will be collected, standardized and published in a machine-readable format on the Open Data Portal, and then regularly updated.

2. How will the commitment help foster accountability? N/A

3. How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions? N/A

Commitment Planning (Milestones | Expected Outputs | Expected Completion Date)

1. Collection, standardization and publication of data about the contact points of all Centers for Social Work in the Republic of Serbia and their physical accessibility for PWDs | Data on the contact points of all Centers for Social Work in the Republic of Serbia and their physical accessibility for PWDs is published on the Open Data Portal https://data.gov.rs/ sr/ and updated in accordance with possible changes or once a year. | IV quarter of 2024

2. Collection, standardization and publication of data about contact points of all registered social enterprises | Data about contact points of all registered social enterprises is published on the Open Data Portal https://data.gov.rs/ sr/ and updated in accordance with possible changes or once a year. | IV quarter of 2024

3. Collection, standardization and publication of data about the contact points of all enterprises offering professional rehabilitation and employment of PWDs | Data on contact points of all enterprises offering professional rehabilitation and employment of PWDs is published on the Open Data Portal https://data.gov.rs/ sr/ and is updated once a year | IV quarter of 2024

4. Collection, standardization and publication of data about all active associations and unions that achieve goals in areas of importance for PWDs | Data about all active associations and unions that achieve goals in areas of importance for PWDs is published on the Open Data Portal https://data.gov.rs/ sr/ and is updated once a year | IV quarter of 2024

5. Collection, standardization and publication of data about the contact persons in the procedure for exercising the right to a VAT refund for the import of motor vehicles | Data about the contact persons in the procedure for exercising the right to a VAT refund for the import of motor vehicles is published on the Open Data Portal https://data.gov.rs/ sr/ and is updated once a year | IV quarter of 2024

6. Collection, standardization and publication of data about the contact points of training providers for PWDs, with a decision on approval for the implementation of professional rehabilitation measures and activities | Data about the contact points of training providers for PWDs, with a decision on approval for the implementation of professional rehabilitation measures and activities is published on the Open Data Portal https://data.gov.rs/ sr/ and is updated once a year. | IV quarter of 2024

7. Collection, standardization and publication of data about the contact points of the National Employment Service relevant for the employment of PWDs | Data about the contact points of the National Employment Service relevant for the employment of PWDs is published on the Open Data Portal https://data.gov.rs/ sr/ and is updated once a year | IV quarter of 2024

8. Collection, standardization and publication of data about the allocated budget funds based on the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities | Data about the allocated budget funds based on the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities is published on the Open Data Portal https://data.gov.rs/ and is updated once a year | IV quarter of 2024

9. Creation of an (informative) PWD Support Map – visualization of all data | (Informative) PWD Support Map created and published on the MoLEVSA website https://www.minr zs.gov.rs/sr | IV quarter of 2025