New NGO to tackle problems of people with disabilities

People living with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan are set to establish an NGO to tackle their problems and protect their rights, IRIN learnt on Tuesday. "We want to unite and establish a national association of people living with disabilities to tackle our problems with regard to improving living conditions," Asipa Musaeva, head of the Kyrgyz Association of the Female Handicapped (KAFC), said in the capital, Bishkek. According to the KAFC, about 97,000 people are now living with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan, of which 27,000 live in Bishkek. There were once more than 120,000 officially registered handicapped citizens in the country, but due to a reduction in funding the list of the eligible disabilities had been cut, Musaeva explained. The government was against having a lot of people registered as disabled and to be required to provide for them, she said. Receiving disability status doesn't come easy. In order to get it, one needs an annual medical examination for eight consecutive years certifying that one is unable to take care of oneself. Only then one can be granted disabled status for life. This means, for example, that some people on crutches are not considered to be living with a disability. Yet another challenge is that many such individuals would like to work or study, but can't because of a lack of facilities catering for the handicapped. For example, there are no special ramps for wheelchairs in any of the relevant organisations, including universities and schools.