Discrimination: Only 50 blind people employed in all of Kosovo

Employment remains the greatest concern of blind people. Although a considerable number of them are even educated they are still prejudged. So says the chairman of the Kosovo Blind Association, Daut Tishuki, who adds that from the data that only 50 blind persons possess are in working relations from 2500 the size of this category across the country.

Citing the challenges they face in daily life, Tishuki also highlighted the lack of assisted equipment for blind people as well as conditions.

There are 50 blind people employed by these 2 grand and 500 people, we have blind people who have done their higher education and have scientific degrees, but employment is a great challenge to get to hiring blind people. I'd like to count the conditions that are, the prejudices that still exist, and the second is the lack of assistance equipment, especially of assistant equipment assisted to blind persons, and that's what's been our priority for us to be constantly lobbiing about the focal synthesis of the Albanian language, that the Albanian language is still not synthetized, for what the blind in Kosovo can't use of information technology that has gone far away from”, he points out.

Tishuki, in an interview, says that the very employment of blind persons remains one of the issues they are constantly speaking up about.

The Kosovo Blind Association has its strategic activities in four areas, invojmation, lobbiing to improve the lives of blind persons, and in assisting with legislation, improving legislation, and implementation of current legislation, education of blind persons, and employment of blind persons. But also the main theme is that we also offer specific services or social services to the blind persons that the state so far does not offer these services”, Tishuki followed.

This year has been announced by the Government of Kosovo as a year of disabled people, and this, according to Tishuki, may be a proper start to solve some of the problems they have.

“The association has partnership with other limited capacity associations, we are in partnership with the implementation of a project called comprehensive Kosovo, where under this year we have lobbied the government and the various ministries to be proclaimed this year as a year of disabled persons, as well as with certain ministries we have drafted the task calendar for this year of limited capacity, which was approved by the government and proclaimed 2022 years of disabled persons, with what we think if the calendar is implemented, the ability of limited activities gets a direction to the solution of the <1x> he says.

The Kosovo Blind Association covers the entire territory of Kosovo through 13 of its branches. In Kosovo there are 2 thousand and 500 blind people, while members of this association are over 1,000 blind.