The rights of the persons with mental disabilities from residential intuitions will be promoted within a project financed by the European Union. The goal of the project is to fight discrimination and to promote an inclusive community, IPN reports.

The project includes the conducting of a nationwide awareness-raising campaign, setting up of a hotline for reporting violations of the rights of persons with disabilities, provision of support services and legal assistance, training of persons with mental disabilities and the personnel working with these. Also, mini-grants will be provided for civil society organizations working in regions where there are residential institutions for promoting social inclusion and nondiscrimination.

The project will last for three years and will be implemented in districts where there are psycho-neurological residential institutions. These are: Edinet, Dubasari, Hancesti, Orhei, Soroca and Balti municipality.

The Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Pirkka Tapiola said that Moldova, as other countries of the region, has a very difficult past as regards the persons with mental disabilities because there were created residential institutions where the people were isolated from society. “As a result of this project, 2,300 persons with mental disabilities from six neuropsychiatric institutions will have access to legal services and other kind of support,” stated the official.

The project is 95% financed by the European Union, while the other 5% is covered by the implementing institutions, namely Keystone Moldova Association, the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities and the Alliance of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities of Moldova.