EU funding for advocacy in the field of deinstitutionalisation

The aim of the call is to co-finance the Centre for Deinstitutionalisation Advocacy. The centre will provide individual and group advocacy and ensure adequate legal representation to people with disabilities both placed in institutions or living in community-based settings. Group advocacy will involve raising awareness of disability rights and of importance of deinstitutionalisation at local and national level.

The establishment of the centre will build on national strategic documents, such as the Act on the Equalisation of Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Resolution on the National Social Protection Programme for the Period 2022–2030, and the Slovenian Strategy for Deinstitutionalisation in Social Protection 2024-2034. The ultimate goal will be to ensure that people with disabilities have a greater say, autonomy, and choice in where, how, and with whom to live.

Faced with limited opportunities, unequal power relations, and discrimination, people with disabilities are often denied the possibility of exercising their rights and asserting their interests. Advocacy is key in making their voices heard and taken on board.

The project will facilitate access to quality, sustainable, and affordable social care services with an emphasis on support for the transition from institutional to community-based care.

The Ministry of Solidarity-Based Future will publish the call for proposals in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia on Friday, 8 August 2025.

The €1,614,466.67 project will receive €1,238,836.79 from the European Regional Development Fund.