Government Implementation of the Standard Rules
As Seen By Member Organizations of
Inclusion International - ILSMH

Republic of Belarus

Download 'ILSMH Reports on the UN Standard Rules' as a PDF file (258 KB)

---

© Dimitris Michailakis 1997

Association of Parents of Children with Handicap, Republic of Belarus
No reply was received from the Government of Belarus
Compare with the following Country Report(s): ILSMH (Rehabilitation Centre of Disabled Children Having Cerebral Palsy and Spinal Cord Pathologies), WFD

General policy

The officially recognized disability policy is expressed in law, in guidelines adopted by the government, in guidelines adopted by the national disability council and in policy adopted by NGOs. The emphasis in this policy is on prevention, rehabilitation, individual support, accessibility measures, anti-discrimination law.

By means of information campaigns the government has conveyed the message of full participation.

Legislation

The rights of persons with disabilities are protected by special legislation. There is no judicial mechanism to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The non-judicial mechanism available for that purpose is a governmental body (administrative).

General legislation applies with respect to education, access to court-of-law and right to privacy. The following benefits are guaranteed by law to persons with disabilities: health and medical care, training, rehabilitation and counselling, financial security, independent living.

Accessibility

There are rules to ensure accessibility of the public places and the outdoor environment, but no rules to ensure accessibility in means of public transport and in housing. No responsible body exists to ensure accessibility of the built environment. There are special transport arrangements for persons with disabilities. Special transport is available for any purpose. The most difficult obstacles, when planning to build accessible environments, are attitudinal factors, economic/budgetary factors, technical factors, lack of planning and design-capacity, lack of co-operation form other organizations/institutions and lack of enforcement mechanism. There is no disability awareness component incorporated in the training of planners, architects and construction engineers.

Sign language for deaf people is recognized as the official language of deaf people, is used as the first language in education of deaf people and recognized as the main means of communication between deaf persons and others. There are government measures to encourage media and other forms of public information to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities. The only measure provided to facilitate information and communication between persons with disabilities and others is literature in Braille.

Organizations of persons with disabilities

There is a national umbrella organization. Organizations of persons with disabilities are sometimes consulted, when laws and regulations with a disability aspect are being prepared. Consultations occur at the national level. The government gives financial and organizational/logistic support to organizations of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities participate to a very limited extent in government, legislatures, judicial authorities, political parties and NGOs. The role of organizations of persons with disabilities is to advocate rights and improved services, mobilize persons with disabilities, identify needs and priorities, contribute to public awareness, provide services and promote/organize income generating activities.

Co-ordination of work

There is a national co-ordinating committee. The committee includes representatives only of organisations of persons with disabilities and other NGOs. The government does not expect the committee to participate in policy development but to perform other tasks. It is to early for an assessment about the effects of the establishment of the co-ordinating committee.

---

Contents of the ILSMH Report | Compare with the following Country Report(s): ILSMH (Rehabilitation Centre of Disabled Children Having Cerebral Palsy and Spinal Cord Pathologies), WFD