AFTER 15 YEARS OF INDEPENDENT LIVING CONSISTANT INITIATIVES IN

CIL Serbia from its foundation has been working on providing the condition for PA service establishing and development.

The result of the 2-year pilot project from 2003 and 2005 and local advocacy activists is that 4 municipalities (, , Jagodina and ) recognized the importance of the service and allocate the funds for it.

The 15 year work on capacity building, awareness raising on SPA importance and necessity and pre-condition providing for IL in Serbia resulted with the recognition of the issue by the Law against the Discrimination of PwDs, national strategy of improving the position of PwDs, Law of the professional rehabilitation and employment, and finally, the Low for the Social protection, that defines IL and services that enable IL in the community with its basic standards and conditions for potential service providers. The CIL Serbia was one of the initiators of these processes and actively participated in the laws and strategy drafting and its public presentation and debating.

In 2008 the Centre LIVING UPRIGHT from in partnership with CIL Serbia and Association of students with Disabilities started the service for 10 users with the increasing number of us each year.

During the last year within the Public Works CIL Serbia has got a project to train 48 persons from the unemployment register for a personal assistant duties. Public work was conducted in five in Serbia (, Jagodina, Cacak, Nis and Leskovac) and in this way 48 persons with disabilities has their personal as sistants. The project was funded by the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development users for the first 6 months of this year.

This moment within the Public Works CIL Serbia has got a project to train 77 persons from the unemployment register for a personal assistan t duties. Public work is running in eight cities in Serbia (Belgrade, Jagodina, Cacak, Nis, Novi Sad, Bor, and Leskovac) and in this way 77 persons with disabilities has their personal assistants and possibility to engage themselves in more qualitative way in accordance with the independent

living philosophy. The project started at July 4th. Except local CILs, and Centre LIVING UPRIGT, directly included in this public work, other organization who also organize service within the public work engage CIL Serbia trainers for training the assistants they employ. CIL Serbia has accredited training program for personal assistants.

The first public work resulted that the of Nis and Cacak municipality through the advocacy process provided the funds for the service continuation in this year for 10 users in each.

At the same time, within the Centre LIVING UPRIGHT advocacy activities city of Novi Sad, the government of the Autonomous Province of , Serbian Orthodox Church (Eparchy of Backa), Electro Distribution company of Vojvodina, city public companies and private sector representatives provided the funds for 15 users for the first 6 six months of this year. Ten of us are being include by the service organizing by the CIL Serbia within the public work, and for 5 users it has been organizing by the Centre LIVING UPRIGHT.

The last two weeks were very intensive related to the service sustainability in Novi Sad based on the new low resulted by the announcement of the all necessary funds provision for 10 of us. We created the mutual poster of the IL principles and preconditions that will be placed in all public busses in Novi Sad during December.

In this moment, just before the national standards adoption, through the different pilot project, initiatives and public work, the service following the IL principles are using almost hundred of us in 10 municipalities, towns and cities.

Milica Mima Ruzicic-Novkovic, president of Centre LIVING UPRIGHT,

CIL Serbia and ENIL board member