ZAGREB, 10 June 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday that the government would try and secure budget funds to increase allowances for parents with children with special needs, with whose representatives he would meet next week.

"We... will meet with the parents' representatives on Monday and find a solution to meet their demands. We are yet to see what the effect on the budget will be," the PM said, adding that there were around 5,100 children with special needs.

He recalled that his government had already made major changes by increasing maternity allowances.

Sjena association vice-president Suzana Rešetar said the prime minister's invitation to talks came after the association said it would stage a protest outside the Social Policy Ministry in early September.

Topics other than the allowance, which currently amounts to less than HRK 2,400, could be opened at the talks as well, she said.

"We do not want to be charity cases that depend on the allowance. We want adequate social services for our children, such as lessons with speech specialists or psychologists paid for by the state as well as medicines and medical devices," Rešetar told Hina, noting that currently those services are paid for fully or up to 50% by parents, which many have problem coping with financially.

In addition to quality health services, parents of children with special needs also want the state to secure adequate education for all such children, which would make them more competitive on the labour market and reduce their dependence on the state allowance.

"We even have problems when enrolling children in primary schools," Rešetar said, adding that parents were frequently told that schools did not have the conditions or capacity to organise classes for children with special needs.

She noted that an additional problem was that the state treated all parents of children with special needs the same, without taking into account the total number of children they have, the number of children with special needs or disabilities, their housing conditions, working conditions, etc.

"If you have a sick child, the state removes you from the labour market and pushes you into extreme poverty, it does not support motherhood at all," said Rešetar.

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Living on a beautiful Dalmatian island might be the dream of many, but the daily grind and the confronting realities of island life often pour cold water on paradise-type notions. From access to various types of transport to water to regular ferry lines to and from the mainland, life on an island isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Brač's inhabitants however, are fighting the good fight for those who need it most.

As Morski writes on the 24th of March, 2019, for years now, Brač's Red Cross has helped the Association of parents of children with developmental disabilities through numerous organised actions and various donations. Owing to this, a large number of therapies on the island of Brač have been secured, but often kids and their parents still have to go to the mainland multiple times for other therapies. With that in mind, Red Cross Brač has initiated a petition with the aim to amend the law which governs transport between the island and the mainland.

"For this reason, Red Cross Brač initiated the initiative along with ''Brač buds'' to amend the necessary law in a manner that will in the future regulate the exercise of the right to free transportation on public transport for children with developmental difficulties residing on an island who need physical, sensory, communicative, or linguistic therapy, as well as those who have intellectual difficulties when it comes to learning and development support to achieve the best possible developmental outcomes and social inclusion. 

The desired change to the law will also positively affect those with severe disabilities residing on an island whose long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments may interfere with daily life and create various and multiple obstacles to their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with persons without disabilities.

This proposal seeks to highlight one aspect of discrimination against island children with developmental disabilities compared to the rest of the more privileged population.

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