Awards and recognitions presented to local self-governments for improving accessibility in 2022

At the ceremony held on occasion of the Public Call of the Protector of Citizens for contribution to improving accessibility for cities, municipalities and city municipalities in the Republic of Serbia, the winners for 2022 are cities of Užice, Kragujevac and Sombor, municipality of Vrnjačka Banja and Belgrade municipality of Vračar. Support for this activity is provided by Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities within the project "Partnership for Good Local Government", which is implemented with the support of the Government of Switzerland.

The prestigious award for improving accessibility in 2022 was presented to City of Užice, in the field of public transport, based on Decision of the Protector of Citizens. This City was awarded for the reported initiative, which includes the introduction of modern public transport vehicles adapted to people with disabilities, as well as the informational adaptation of public transport stops. The City of Kragujevac also received an award for improving the accessibility of content in the field of culture, and the Municipality of Vrnjačka Banja for improving the accessibility of sports facilities. The City municipality of Vračar received a special recognition for the initiative of establishing a support website for people with disabilities, while the City of Sombor was praised for improving the accessibility of public facilities. Certificates of appreciation for participation in the Public Call were awarded to Svilajnac, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Vranje, Šabac, Loznica and Zrenjanin.

Slobodan Tomić, Deputy Protector of Citizens, thanked SCTM for their support in the implementation of this activity, members of the Council of the Protector of Citizens and Rights of Persons with Disabilities for their professional expertise in this process and all the cities, municipalities, and city municipalities that, through their initiatives, enable citizens to exercise their rights in the local community.

"In cooperation with SCTM, we have been carrying out this Public Call for seven years with the desire to encourage and recognize those local self-governments that contribute to development of accessibility in their environment and promote examples of practice in this area", said Tomić and added that it is important to emphasize that accessibility not only implies the accessibility of the physical environment but the accessibility of information, communications, services and products.

Marko Tomašević, SCTM Deputy Secretary General, pointed out that SCTM has been promoting the importance of the good governance concept among its members for years now as one of the basic postulates of the local self-government functioning, and that the Public Call for improving accessibility is getting its well-founded place among the continuous activities and program commitments of SCTM.

"The needs of vulnerable groups should be considered and respected in all areas and phases of local policy creation, not only in those that are traditionally aimed at empowering the most vulnerable. In this way, the risks of discriminatory treatment are prevented, and thus the equality of all citizens. For this reason, SCTM advocates for the inclusion of the topic of improving accessibility in all local development documents, from comprehensive development plans to urban planning documents and documents in the field of social protection, policies and plans related to youth, public health, transport, tourism, culture and similar", Tomašević pointed out and concluded that precisely for this reason, the variety of examples submitted within this year's public call is encouraging.

The award for improving accessibility is presented jointly by the Protector of Citizens and SCTM, based on a previously announced Public Call. The Committee for awarding consisted of representatives of the professional service of the Protector of Citizens, SCTM, as well as representatives of the Council of Protector of Citizens for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. During the last year, twelve cities and municipalities applied for awards and recognition in this area.