Firms that hire more people with disabilities should get state incentives, ombudsman Velislava Delcheva told a conference in Sofia. She wants more tax breaks, adapted workplaces and real chances for people to build a career.
The conference, "20 years on: from rights on paper to independent living", was organised by the Maria's World Foundation. It marks 20 years since the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted.
Without a job and an income of their own, it is hard to live independently, and people should not stay on social benefits for good, Delcheva said.
Complaints to the ombudsman show a big gap between the rights written in law and a person's real chance to use them, she said. One example is a case in Lovech, where a woman in a wheelchair could not reach the ombudsman's office because the building was not accessible. Delcheva wrote to the town's mayor, who promised a change. In three months, the ombudsman will check whether he kept his word.
Delcheva also wants to end full legal incapacitation, which she calls an outdated model. She says it should be replaced with supported decision-making. "I cannot accept that in 2026 Bulgarian law still allows a person to be stripped in practice of the ability to make their own decisions," she said. The issue was put to parliament in May, and the ombudsman is still pressing for change.
Delcheva also wants reform of mental health care. She says it cannot stop at repairing buildings and improving conditions in hospitals. It also needs more services, support in the community, protection of patients' rights and a chance for people to live outside institutions.
Personal assistance should support a person's independence, not reduce it and increase the need for extra money for them or their family, the ombudsman said. Delcheva said digital services are needed, but they should make life easier for people, not put new obstacles in their way.
The point of the UN Convention is not to create special rights for one group, Delcheva said. In her view, people with disabilities should have the same rights as everyone else.
Delcheva recalled that at the last elections the ombudsman and the Central Election Commission made it possible for people with disabilities to vote on their own. She said the aim is for the answer to be "yes" to these questions: can a person leave home alone, get to school, vote alone and have an income of their own? "Then we will be able to say that the Convention and our country have truly changed the lives of these people. Until then, we have a lot of work to do," she said.