The Regional Minister for Social Inclusion, Youth, Families and Equality, Loles López, handed over the resolutions of the subsidies corresponding to the ‘Andalucía +Accessible’ and ‘Corresponsables’ plans, amounting to more than 2.8 million euros, to representatives of 21 local councils this Wednesday at the Government Delegation in Almería. These are two plans aimed at promoting equality by improving accessibility in public spaces and with actions that contribute to the reconciliation of families with children and young people up to 16 years of age from an equality perspective.
In this way, through both plans, a total of 23 grants have been awarded to some twenty town councils of «all political colours», as the councillor pointed out, and she pointed out that these two programmes, financed with European funds, are «very important because they allow us to help people». On the one hand, «the aim is to make our towns and cities more accessible and, on the other, to promote work-life balance and equality between men and women».
The awarding of these grants demonstrates «the Junta’s commitment to co-responsibility and the elimination of barriers for people with disabilities». «Although they are aimed at different areas, these programmes have something in common: promoting equality between people», continued López.
In this sense, he explained that the grants are delivered within the ‘Andalucía +Accessible’ programme with 1.87 million euros to six municipalities in Almeria. The ‘Andalusia + Accessible’ programme is aimed at granting subsidies to local entities that are adhered to the Andalusian Pact for Accessibility to carry out actions that provide accessibility solutions in buildings and public spaces. The aim is to guarantee accessible and comprehensible environments so that people with disabilities and their families can participate in society under the same conditions as the rest of the population. The aim is to adapt public buildings or urban spaces, pavements, parking spaces for people with disabilities, signposting, elimination of unevenness, etc.
The six councils receiving the resolution will improve the accessibility of several streets in the neighbourhood of La Lustra in Huércal de Almería; in the Town Hall of Dalias and in public buildings in the municipalities of Olula del Río, Cuevas de Almanzora, Adra and Berja. «The aim is none other than to guarantee equal opportunities for people with disabilities», continued López, who defended the importance of continuing to work to «build an Andalusia without barriers». It is, as he emphasised, about making Andalusia «a driving force for equality» because it is «a land with a lot of talent, a lot of work capacity, but also a land with a lot of heart, solidarity and humanity».
Conciliation
In addition to these six resolutions of the ‘Andalucía más Accesible’ programme, 17 resolutions have been granted to 17 town councils in Almeria within the ‘Corresponsables’ Plan for 917,000 euros. Within this plan, the Regional Ministry has received 103 applications, 102 from Andalusian town councils and one from a Provincial Council. The ‘Corresponsables’ plan was launched in 2021 with the aim of guaranteeing care as a right in Spain from the perspective of equality between women and men and for the guarantee of universal rights, regardless of the employment status of the beneficiaries.
The aim is to promote work-life balance, create quality employment in the care sector and to dignify and certify the professional experience of non-formal care, as well as to create professional care exchanges, through quality professional care services at home or in public facilities, for example, play centres, nurseries.
Projects such as the schools for work-life balance and co-responsibility in Olula del Río or Oria, the school for families in Chirivel, the toy library in Cantoria, the ‘Concilia tu familia’ summer school in Mojácar, the summer school in Tíjola, or the ‘Responsabílizate’ programme for equality in El Ejido, among others, stand out in this respect. These grants will be targeted primarily at single-parent families, victims of gender-based violence and other forms of violence against women, women in long-term unemployment, women over 45 years of age or families with dependents who need care.
«With the Corresponsables programme, the Andalusian Government aims to help local councils to promote equality between men and women, to educate in equality, to share responsibilities and to improve the reconciliation of family life and work», added López, who stated that «a society advances when it walks in equality, without clichés, and when men and women share responsibilities and efforts».
The councillor underlined that these subsidies serve to «reinforce the indispensable cooperation between the Andalusian government and local entities: town councils and provincial councils, because this cooperation results in a greater and better offer of services to citizens». «We are working to make this land a leader, not only in economic aspects, but also in equal opportunities for people, which is our duty as administrations», emphasised Loles López, who highlighted the role of the local councils, which are the closest administration.
«Here there is only one colour: the colour of Andalusia, and we have to push in the same direction», remarked the councillor, who considers it essential to «solve problems jointly, based on institutional loyalty, collaboration and cooperation». «We want the Andalusian Government and the local councils to go hand in hand for the benefit of Andalusians and Andalusian women and men, and we want to be allies in the search for solutions to problems», she concluded.