Westberg K.  2008.  Latvia: “We want help to start a personal assistance project”.
Personal assistance is not available in Latvia. Today the options are help from relatives or living in residential institutions. However, Dace Rodzina, who represents the organization APEIRONS, would like to change the situation by influencing legislation and launching projects with organizations from other countries.
Annan K.  1999.  United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's Message on the International Day of Disabled Persons.

The theme for this year’s observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons -- Accessibility -- reminds us that for many people with disabilities, the lack of access to essential services remains a source of discrimination and lost opportunities.

For more than half a billion people in the world, accessibility can mean an education, a job and a community that would otherwise be denied them. Accessibility is a prerequisite for disabled people to enjoy equal opportunities. It is a key to the exercise of their civil, politicial, social and cultural rights. This is a major concern of the United Nations, rooted in its founding principle of the equality of all human beings.

Bernt M.  2008.  Flanders, Belgium - long queue for personal assistance.
“In Flanders, Belgium, 4,000 people are waiting to receive assistance,” says Viviane Sorée, chairperson of Bol Budiv. Viviane Sorée is chairperson of the organization Bol Budiv, which helps individuals who receive assistance. They provide advice and support to 1,350 people with disabilities living in Flanders. Bol Buiv is a two-year old project that is financed by government funding. “We have high hopes to be able to continue our work after the project ends.”

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