The Coordinating Federation of People with Physical and/or Organic Disabilities of Bizkaia (FEKOOR) is hosting this Wednesday in Bilbao the first transnational meeting of organisations working for people with disabilities from five European countries which, with funding from the European Union, are going to create a comprehensive and innovative training programme for professionals in the social field who provide care for people with disabilities living in rural areas.
The meeting is taking place throughout the day at the Bidarte civic centre, with the participation of organisations from Slovenia, Turkey, Denmark, Italy, as well as the Federations of People with Physical and Organic Disabilities of Madrid (FAMMA) and Seville (COCEMFE Seville), and FEKOOR.
The project began in November 2021 with a quantitative and qualitative study of needs, through surveys of social professionals from local councils and the health sector, to know the degree of knowledge about the needs, rights, resources, support and services required by people with disabilities to lead an independent life in rural areas.
The questionnaires were supplemented by private meetings with these professionals in order to expand the information. All these data have been sent to the Slovenian entity, which is the one that on Wednesday will release the conclusions about the needs and shortcomings of the group.
With this social x-ray, a training programme for professionals will be drawn up with the aim of promoting the social inclusion and independent living of people with disabilities who live in rural areas, according to Izaskun Jiménez, a technician at the Fekoor organisation.
A virtual community of European professionals will also be created, a guide to independent living for people with disabilities in rural areas, as well as a digital platform and mobile application with all the training knowledge gathered so that it is available to specialised personnel from the European Union.
The second transnational meeting will take place in October in Denmark and the end of the project is planned for May 2024.
