22/06/2018
On June 22, 2018, in the hall of the Council of the Municipality of Bitola, a public debate was held on the start of the deinstitutionalization strategy organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MLSP) and the municipality of Bitola. This issue, which has been dragging for more than two decades, began with realization after years of preparation, with great help and support from international organizations (UNDP, UNICEF) and, of course, the European Union. Representatives of several civic organizations, experts (doctors, psychologists, pedagogues, social workers, defectologists, etc.) and councilors from the municipality of Bitola attended the hearing. The expert team of the MLSP - Vladimir Lazovski, Drita Arslani and Teona Dimitrovska - described the situation and the strategy by 2017, followed by a rich discussion, sometimes with emotional charge for some aspects of "for" and "against" which is especially useful, but only if it does not go to infinity. Starting from the experiences, the West has spent almost a century in finding paths in the continuity of gradually changing the philosophy of living to achieving its primary goal - to replace institutional care with care in the community. From our modest findings, blind correction can cause damage (failure in 2000), but we also have the reminders from Romania and Italy that need to be taught. These thoughts were shared by the writer of these lines with the attendees and we generally agreed that changes are necessary, with well thought out transformation and field work, especially with the preparation and continuous action of the community about the relationship of the environment to this issue. We hope that all considerations and remarks will be taken into account in creating all the activities that will be carried out continuously and with selfless support from the government at the state and local level, as well as with the support of the media.
