On January 26, 2012 theoretical and practical conference “Barrier-free environment as the factor of stable development of the society” was held in the Academy of management under the aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus. The program of the conference consisted of seminars, each of which was dedicated to some important social problem in the sphere of disability. The speakers raised the problems existing at each stage of life of a person with disability. From the creation of the conditions for raising a child, his education and adaptation in the society till the solving of employment problem. The global topic of state’s policy of social protection of persons with disabilities was also discussed. Members and speakers of the conference came from different regions of Belarus, what gave the possibility to fill the theoretic database by the examples from different spheres of life. Theoretical and practical conference “Barrier-free environment as the factor of stable development of the society” became the first step on the way to cooperation of NGOs and state departments involved in solving disability problems. Now, when the problems are considered from the different viewpoints and by those who face the problems everyday it is becoming clear what possible solutions we have.
Sergey Drozdovskiy, the coordinator of the Office for the rights of persons with disabilities, represented the Office. In his speech he told about the modern understanding of disability, the ways of solving the problems in this sphere, about the foreign models and approaches. Sergey Drozdovskiy especially mentioned the questions of accessibility and destroying barriers in the sphere of disability. “Barriers for a person with disability are not only curbs higher than one centimeter, which prevent him from moving in the needed direction. Barriers can be very different: mental, economic, architectural, legal… Our goal is to get rid of these barriers and by this to provide persons with disabilities with the complete inclusion to the life of the society, with independent living and the realization of their rights”.