Persons with disabilities face various forms of discrimination in their daily routine, but one of the main obstacles to living a dignified and independent life is partial or complete lack of access to goods and services, especially for the visually impaired. In that regard, this action aimed to help social inclusion of persons with disabilities through facilitated access to goods and services on the market and to provide equality of persons with disabilities in the protection of consumer rights. It also supported the strengthening of CSO capacities in the fight for equal consumer rights.
Put simply, the project responded to the strong need to improve the human rights situation of persons with disabilities in Montenegro. During the two-year implementation period, the project managed to increase the capacity of non-governmental organisations dealing with the protection of consumer rights of persons with disabilities. It created mechanisms for reporting cases of discrimination against persons with disabilities as consumers through a working group, while also launching a special telephone line and a web platform.
The project brought various benefits to persons with disabilities and society as a whole, as it managed to raise awareness among key stakeholders and the general public about the principles and benefits of social inclusion of vulnerable groups. It also carried out an assessment of the implementation of the legal and institutional framework concerning the rights of persons with disabilities as consumers, as well as an assessment of how persons with disabilities perceive their access to goods and services.