Eleven-year-old Embla Ademi from North Macedonia doesn’t have it easy. She is bullied and discriminated against at school because of her Down syndrome. But not just from their classmates. Some parents had petitioned to have her removed from the class. This is reported by the English newspaper “Metro”.
That was enough for the North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski. In order to set an example and to support the little one, he personally accompanied the girl from Gostivar, a North Macedonian town in the north-west of the country, to school.
“Inclusion is a fundamental principle”
With the small Embla in hand, the President announced: “Inclusion is a fundamental principle that we must support in such cases.”
Once at the school, Pendarovski added that he came to stand by Embla and her family. He wanted to show that all people in North Macedonia are equal.
Often no help for children with disabilities
“We need to raise our awareness that people with special needs are a part of us and that we shouldn’t exclude them.”
Embla has now returned to her classroom and is being taught there again with other students. She has been assigned a personal assistant to support her.
According to a 2018 report by UNICEF and the European Disability Forum, children with disabilities in the Western Balkans are often denied access to help. Such children often face deep-rooted social discrimination and stigma. (dzc)