Strengthening the Greek Guide Dog Movement

George Stamatis, Secretary General for Social Solidarity and the Fight against
Poverty, in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, addressed the conference Saturday morning about Strengthening the institution of guide dogs, as a means for the autonomy of people with visual disabilities.

The Secretary-General spoke of the importance of increasing visibility of guide dogs, which had been led by Mrs Geroulanou, president of Greek Guide Dogs Centre and Ms Gertsou, president of Lara Guide Dog School and reinforced by EGDF bringing the conference to Greece for the first time.

A white cane and then a guide dog were the prerequisites for autonomy for visually impaired people. His department had created a working group to develop a coherent policy to help blind people who wanted to work with a guide dog. Most of Mrs Geroulanou’s and Ms Gertsou’s suggestions were included in the group’s conclusions. The report had been delivered to the Prime Minister the previous year and, with funding from the European Union, they had started working on orientation and mobility instruction and white cane training. In Greece there had been only nine O&M instructors, but they would soon announce a programme of 40 new trainers in mobility, orientation and daily living skills in Athens and
Thessaloniki. This would enable them to move to the next stage, training in the use of a guide dog. They also planned to introduce certification of guide dog trainers.

It was challenging in Greece to encourage people to work with a guide dog. They would create a public information campaign highlighting the benefits of guide dogs to gain the support of the general public. They wanted to reduce the cost of training and to help visually impaired people to fund and sustain their dogs through tax relief. They were encouraging the public to donate money to guide dog programmes and charities.

Laws existed for the rights of guide dog handlers, but they wanted to change the mentality so guide dogs would be accepted without having to resort to the courts. The biggest challenge was how to collaborate with every municipality in the country because most cities in Greece were not as accessible as other European cities.
He thanked the EGDF conference for enhancing the visibility of guide dog handlers and helping to make social inclusion a reality.