Brief Life Sketch: Vasko Markov

We address you in order to inform you about the work and activities of the National Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons of the Republic of Macedonia, which is one of the oldest NGOs in our country. It was founded since 1948, and exists and acts more than 68 years. The aim of our addressing is to inform you with the most important activities of our organization in the last 6 years when our association has been headed by Mr. Vasko Markov who was elected President.

By the election of Mr. Vasko Markov as President of the National Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons of the Republic of Macedonia, great progress was immediately achieved in the implementation of the Programme of the Association. He put a lot of efforts to increase and improve the quality and rights of deaf people in our country. By launching numerous initiatives and his personal commitment, deaf people in our country gained many rights that they didn’t have previously because they were not regulated by the existing Macedonian regulations and laws. So in this 6-year period after Mr. Vasko Markov became a President, and as more important are the following:

• Amendments to the Law on Social Security introducing a provision by which the deaf persons are entitled to receive disability payments for deafness;
• The Government of the Republic of Macedonia, adopted special programs for employment of deaf persons. The programs provide additional incentives for those employers who hire deaf persons, including non-refundable cash (currently Euro 10 000) for self-employment and opening own business for deaf persons who have an interest in it;
• In the past 6 years the President of the National Association has paid special attention to traninings for a larger number of sign language interpreters. In this period more than 40 persons have been trained and each of them has got a Certificate of Sign Language Interpreter;
• At the initiative of the President, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia adopted several positive measures by which the deaf persons have gained the right to use, free of charge, urban and intercity buses;
• The right to import vehicles from abroad for which deaf persons are exempt from paying customs duties and other tax charges;
• During this period, the President paid special attention to the complete reconstruction of the resort for the deaf, the hotel "Daljan" Ohrid and to provide better conditions, enabling a better quality of the stay, rest and recreation of deaf members in this hotel in ownership of the National Association;
• President of the National Association, in the past 6 years, paid special attention to the consistent implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
• During the last 6 years of his mandate, President of the National Association Mr. Vasko Markov managed to strengthen the work of local associations of deaf persons and implemented many other activities related to improvement of the quality of life of deaf persons in our country.