The Union of the Blind of Serbia was set up on July 14 1946. It has resulted from the aspirations of the blind to organize their work on meeting their specific needs and interests. The members of the Union are blind and partially sighted persons from Serbia. The Union has some 12000 blind and heavily visually impaired members of different age. The goals proclamed are realized over the local, regional and provincial organizations, over the bodies of the Assembly, Executive and Monitoring Committees and some ten standing Commissions. Ordinary and assisting members of the Union are involved on the voluntary basis in the realization of the programme, and the Office of the Union and the offices of the organizations are involved on the proffessional basis.

 

The basic goal of the Union is elimination or diminishing of heavy consequences of blindness and partial sight and achieving active and equal life of blind and partially sighted persons with sighted ones. Bearing in mind the effectuation of wide range of goals and the tasks set out in the Plan of Action, the Union is involved directly or over the social community in education, vocational training, rehabilitation and employment of blind and partially sighted persons, in their health and social protection, in ensuring, acquisition and distribution of special aids for the compensation of visual handicap in different areas, in meeting specific needs of blind and partially sighted persons in the area of culture, publishing, library and informative activity, in development of sport, recreational and chess activities etc. The Union permanently struggles for regulating the protection of blind and visually impaired persons by means of legislative provisions. We also make the efforts that blind and partially sighted persons, as the persons with one of the haviest handicaps that a man can be affected by have favourable social and material situation, in order to diminish the consequences of their handicap in as greater extent as possible. By means of 60-year-work and results, the Union has a rich experience, reputation and significant influence on the relevant state bodies and institutions ensuring material and other presumptions for its work and for special rights and benefits of blind and partially sighted persons. The reputation of the Union is also reflected in the fact that it deals with some public affairs on behalf of the State, such as meeting specific needs of the blind in the area of publishing, informative and library activities in the formats that are accessible for the blind (Braille, as the unique and authentic writing system of the blind and talking books and magazines, recorded on cassettes or CDs and materials in electronic format), ensuring, buying and distribution of special aids for the blind in different areas, regulating and issuing documents for subventions of the blind and their guides in the internal transport etc. In accordance with our tasks, the Union and its organizations organize and conduct a great number of activities which are conceited according to the characteristics of visual handicap, aiming to fulfill the lives of blind and partially sighted persons, and to integrate them in society as soon as possible, which implies that the activities have the character of a prolonged rehabilitation. Few workers of the Office of the Union are involved in the effectuation of conclusions and decisions made by the governing bodies of the Union. We think that more proffessional staff should be involved in these activities, than the Union and its organizations currently have. In its involvement, the Union acts as the corrective of the state institutions, in the sense of completing their work and compensation of some lack they may have in their work, which gives the Union characteristics of both an institution and a social organization, and in this regard it plays a complementary role to the system institutions.

 

The activities of the Union can be divided into two basic groups:

            - social-humanitarian and general activities and

            - library, publishing and information activities.

 

The premises in which the social-humanitarian activities are prevalently being performed are situated in Belgrade, in the headquarters of the Union, Knez Mihailova 42/II.Phones: +381 11 3286 550 and +381 11 3286 706; fax: +381 11 3286 722; e-mail:savezslepihsrbije@bvcom.net i info@savezslepih.org

 

The library and publishing activities are prevalently being performed in the library of the Union of the Blind of Serbia "Dr Milan Budimir" in Belgrade, Jevrejska 24. Phones: 2630-969, 2184-604; e-mail: sssbiblio@gmail.com.

 

The Union publishes the following magazines for the blind and partially sighted persons "Mozaik" on audio cassettes (very soon on CD), "Svitanja" (The Daybreak), "Zabavni listići" (Entertaining news) – the magazine for the children and youth – and "Žena i dom" (Woman and Home) – the magazine for women – in Braille.

 

The president of the Union is mr. Milan Stošić, and the Secretary mr. Dragiša Drobnjak.

 

The Union is organized according to the teritorial principles, and is consequently composed of 44 municipal, regional and city organizations, 30 of which are in central Serbia, 3 in Kosovo, and 11 in Vojvodina. Besides, the Union of the blind of Vojvodina is the organization within the Union of the Blind of Serbia.