Locatelli: I will ask for more resources for disabilities

They are not disabled, but people with disabilities. Inclusion is not just an economic fact, but a pathway to support throughout life. Resources, however, are not a secondary aspect. The Minister for Disabilities, Alessandra Locatelli, claims an overall vision of disability management, not merely economic, but does not underestimate the need to have, and redistribute, the funds necessary to ground the policies of her ministry. At the Trento Festival of Economics, urged by Alberto Faustini, she claims the activity of 'pulling Minister Giorgetti by the jacket, right from the beginning of his mandate'. And he raises. 'From here on,' she says with a smile, 'I will pull with greater force'.

To avoid the pitfalls of the next budget law, the last of the legislature. "I will do my utmost to have, as always, the largest possible resources to distribute to persons with disabilities and their families. Starting with the request to increase the family caregiver fund. There is a law under discussion in Parliament that I believe is fundamental to give dignity to the persons cared for and their carers. At present the endowment is 257 million. I will commit myself, also in the budget law, to ask for an increase in funding'.

To the request of the mayors who, here in Trento on Wednesday, had demanded more resources for the provision of welfare services in the territory, the minister responded conciliatingly: 'I too say that we need more resources. But a cultural investment is also needed. The mayors' call for help probably concerns all areas of intervention and all transfers, not just social spending which, unfortunately, is often at the bottom of the to-do list. But there also needs to be a change of pace so that at all levels, national, regional and local, we think about putting people first.

A qualitative leap and a change of mentality, first of all. Not yet realised ten years after Law 112 of 201, known as 'After Us'. "There is a need to do more," said the minister, "because if we do not begin to reverse the order of priorities and see the issue of people as an investment and not as a cost, we are not going anywhere.

An assist for Sister Veronica Donatello, head of the Cei disability sector. "We must start again from life projects for people. Rights must be guaranteed, but above all opportunities must be given. Disability is not a vocation. The future belongs to everyone. At the Catholic University of Milan, 4 thousand people with disabilities study. We need to favour life paths, to give job opportunities and to set up autonomy paths. We need the during and the after. We need projects for inclusion in society'.