Τhe International Day of Persons with Disabilities, established in 1992 by the UN to be celebrated on 3 December, is an ideal occasion for further awakening and action to place greater emphasis on the equal rights and indisputable needs of our disabled fellow human beings, for a life without restrictions, athina984.gr notes and adds that the Municipality of Athens is working in this direction, implementing a plan, which aims at the unimpeded access and participation of people with disabilities in every aspect of everyday life.
Recent interventions include more disabled ramps in the neighborhoods and the city center, new parking spaces for the disabled with signs on the streets and municipal parking lots, support services for their better service, but also upgrading of sports structures with facilities facilitate their access to them. These are just a few steps taken from an overall long-term plan that is constantly evolving because the needs are great.
In particular, the Municipality of Athens last year proceeded with the following interventions:
- A major maintenance and restoration plan for all of the city’s sidewalks is underway. The goal is to improve their walkability, to create and repair ramps for the disabled, but also to remove obstacles so that people with mobility problems can move freely in any part of the city.
- A special sign was placed on the ramps of the Municipality of Athens, in the center and the neighborhoods of the city, in order to prevent illegal parking, which makes it even more difficult for people with disabilities to move to the capital. More than 200 points have already been marked in all 7 Municipal Communities.
- 22 new parking spaces have been created, with specifications for vehicles for the disabled in various parts of the capital, which facilitate the smooth movement of our fellow human beings in the urban fabric.
- The Goudi and Kolokynthous swimming pools were equipped with state-of-the-art lifts as well as two new wheelchairs. Now, the entry and exit of People with Disabilities in the swimming pool is fast, easy and above all safe.
- A package of audio accessibility technologies, to serve the citizens with hearing difficulties, has been put into operation at the Registry Office of the Municipality of Athens since July, strengthening the effort to address the social exclusion of citizens living with difficulties and disabilities.
The president of the National Confederation of Persons with Disabilities (ESAmeA) Ioannis Vardakastanis and the Mayor of Athens Costas Bakogiannis signed a cooperation protocol in July, for the implementation of targeted interventions aimed at improving the living of the disabled in the city.
“Respect for the right to access and quality of life is achieved only through actions. For every ramp, for every project that has this goal, we take a step towards Athens that embraces all its people. For an Athens that stops tolerating exceptions “, the Mayor of Athens, Costas Bakogiannis, emphasizes in a statement for today.
With a view to improving the quality of daily life of people with disabilities in the city, the Municipal Authority will continue to implement similar interventions in all seven Municipal Communities, sending a practical message of support for the accessibility of people with disabilities in all areas of daily life.
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