On 16 November 2010, the occasion of day of tolerance the conference “People with Disabilities in the Cultural and Cultural Context” was held at the Tolerance Centre in Vilnius. The event was organised by the Tolerance  Centre at the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, the Embassy of the Netherlands and the Viltis society for the support of the mentally challenged people in Lithuania in collaboration with the Human Rights Committee at the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

The conference was opened by President Dalios Grybauskaitė’s congratulatory message where the she emphasised that “tolerance is not a motto but a call to society to act, to respect and to harmonise better the interests of all its members. It is tolerance and respect of an individual that is necessary for an all-round development of society, the fostering and promoting of diversity.” In their addresses, Donatas Jankauskas, minister for social security and labour, and Arminas Lydeka, chair of the Seimas’ Human Rights Committee, noted that after Lithuania had ratified important international covenants on human rights it is among the states of the democratic world that take care of all social groups, the most vulnerable people including.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that Lithuania ratified in 2010 gives directions for the road map that Lithuania is ready to take. The implementation of the convention in everyday life is a complex process that was discussed by the speakers at the conference. Representatives of NGOs, the academic establishment and governmental institutions, and persons with disabilities spoke about various aspects of tolerance and how to reduce social exclusion,. A lively discussion that ensued after the speeches demonstrated the importance of the subject; the valuable Dutch experience added to the Lithuanian perspective. The conference ended with a concert by the persons with disabilities.

Embassy's of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Lithuania info.