Welcome from the Greek Government

Kostis Hatzidakis, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, on behalf of the government, welcomed EGDF and the participants to their first conference in Greece. He thanked EGDF for choosing Greece as a venue and Lara Guide Dog School and Greek Guide Dogs Centre for facilitating the conference.

He stated that although the UNCRPD guaranteed equal rights, there was a need to further improve the life opportunities of visually impaired people in Greece. They often did not have control over going to school, getting a job, or even what they

did with their spare time. His department was helping to improve access for the visually impaired with 40 new mobility trainers as well as training and certification of guide dog trainers. He said they were aware of accessibility solutions in other European countries, and they were doing their best to keep up with them; they didn’t re-invent the wheel but adopted best practices.

He closed by remarking that his attendance at the conference underlined its importance to the Greek government.

Mr Peppes, Financial Deputy Governor of Attica Prefecture addressed the conference in Greek with English translation. He welcomed the conference and recognised all the Ministry for Labour had achieved for disabled people. His prefecture, which included the city of Athens, produced legislation to prosecute taxi drivers if they refused guide dogs and planned to train partnerships at no cost to the users. He stated that the Attica government supported the Greek guide dog schools in all their initiatives.