Culture Ministry Program Rejected By The Disabled

“Accessibility is a legal obligation and not a desired service,” the National Confederation of Disabled People said in a letter of protest to Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos in March.

The letter was in regards to the minister’s recent referral to “accessibility” as a “desired service” in Parliament (and not a “required” service) while presenting the program that referred to the modernization of museum and archaeological site services for visitors.

According to the confederation, the program is “anachronistic and it harshly avoids the institutionally guaranteed rights of persons with disabilities.”

In the letter to Mr. Geroulanos, the confederation stressed that the program effectively overturns a “regulated institution of a general obligation to a second- and third-class service, which is also scheduled to be implemented only to the 10 most visited sites and UNESCO monuments.”

The confederation called on to the minister to work together and design a plan for the access of disabled people in culture and tourism based on the framework set by European policies.

Greek museums and sites are inadequate in regards to services for the disabled. According to a study presented by the minister last year, some 150 museums around Greece lack important services that include those for the disabled.