Strategic Plan 2007-2011
Introduction
This Plan is in two parts: The first part contains a statement of EBU's
purpose and role, its values and principles, the challenges it faces which
point to some medium-term goals, and some advantages and limitations it
possesses in addressing these challenges.
The second part consists of specific objectives for the work period 2007-11
which are suggested by the work of the commissions during the last work
period, resolutions adopted at the 8th General Assembly and discussions at
the General Assembly. The aim has been in this work period to come up with a
somewhat smaller number of objectives which are, as a whole, more realistic
and manageable than those of the last work period. This has not been
completely achieved, but the Board and commissions are encouraged to keep
their work plans focused and realisable and not just aspirational.
Part 1: General
Mission and Role
* To promote and represent the interests of all blind and partially sighted
people in Europe, including those with additional disabilities, with the
goal of achieving their equal rights as citizens and full participation in
society
* To promote improvements in the living standards and quality of life of
blind and partially sighted people in Europe
* To provide a European forum for exchange of knowledge and experience in
the field of blindness and partial sight
* To encourage and carry out research into all aspects of blindness and
partial sight
* To promote the prevention and cure of visual impairment
* To assist organisations working in the field of blind welfare throughout
Europe
Values and Principles
* Equality of participation and treatment as between persons of both
genders, all ages and all degrees of visual impairment
* A particular focus on the needs and rights of blind and partially sighted
people while fully cooperating with those with other disabilities on issues
common to all disabled people
* Balance between "mainstream" and specialist provision of services
* A balanced approach based on rights, non-discrimination and positive
action
Challenges
* To ensure a comparable standard and quality of life for blind and
partially sighted people in Europe both within and without the European
Union
* To ensure that blind and partially sighted people in the recent EU
Accession Countries experience the full benefits of EU membership
* To ensure that the blind and partially sighted residents of non-Accession
Countries do not become second-class citizens -- the poorest of the poor
* To ensure that EBU resources are equitably distributed between members in
Western, Central and Eastern Europe
* To maintain the momentum for equality and diversity within EBU in order to
fully harness the ideas, aspirations and energy of all sections of our
movement
* To ensure that the aspirations of our partially sighted sisters and
brothers are properly recognised and included within the institutions of the
EBU
* To harness the infrastructure of our constituent organisations most
effectively in support of our work
* To make our operations more streamlined and efficient
* To operate the new structure of thematic commissions and cross-cutting
mechanisms in a flexible manner and with a project focus so as to accomplish
the objectives of EBU and harness the expertise and commitment of our
members without weakening the focus on equality and diversity
* To develop an effective communication strategy in order to keep our
members fully informed and involved and raise our profile externally
* To generate more income from EU projects, sponsorship and private and
corporate funders
Assets
* Our robust structure of democratic institutions
* Our emphasis on autonomy and speaking for ourselves
* The calibre of our leadership
* The increasing effectiveness of our campaigns
* The credibility which all these assets give us
Limitations
* Under-developed professional infrastructure. Harnessing the
communications and fundraising as well as the policy and campaigning
resources of our constituent organisations could prove an appropriate
strategy for addressing this limitation
Finance
1. To develop and implement a plan for raising more income from European
projects, sponsorship and private and corporate sources.
Communication
2. To develop and implement a communication plan for EBU to include
proactive promotion of EBU's policy positions.
3. To prepare regular reports on the work of EBU to inform key opinion
formers and the general public about EBU's work and achievements.
4. To give commissions a higher profile in EBU's media, e.g. the Newsletter,
the website and in publications of national members represented on
commissions.
5. To maintain and develop EBU's website, and keep it updated in areas that
respond to EU funding priorities, e.g. by the development of a legislative
database; to further develop the careers database; and develop the page on
affordable technical devices and equipment (see also SO20, 31 and 49-50).
6. To promote greater use of email discussion lists such as that for
partially sighted people and the "Techwatch" network of experts on new
technology (see also SO34).
EBU Silver Jubilee and Louis Braille Bicentenary 2009
7. To celebrate EBU's Silver Jubilee in 2009 by publishing a collection of
essays submitted for the Onkyo Braille Essay Contest as a means of
celebrating and promoting the invention of braille.
8. To undertake efforts to focus attention on the importance of the
teaching, learning and use of braille (see especially Resolution 2007-4).
9. To support a programme of events in cooperation with our French
colleagues to celebrate the Louis Braille Bicentenary in 2009.
Equality and Diversity
10. To take effective steps to ensure that "cross-cutting" mechanisms work
effectively to promote the issues of blind and partially sighted women,
young and older people, people with low vision and deafblind people (see
Resolution 2007-3 with respect to promoting the interests of blind and
partially sighted women). Consideration should be given to producing a
Women's Newsletter or a section for women in the present newsletter. .
11. Given the high proportion of elderly people in the visually impaired
population, to give priority to issues of particular concern to elderly
blind and partially sighted people.
12. To develop and implement a plan for addressing the issues raised at the
session on low vision during the 8th General Assembly and organise a forum
on low vision during the work period.
13. To develop an EBU focus on children's issues.
14. To disseminate information on accessing EU funding for diversity work.
15. To hold another Equality and Diversity Forum at the 9th General Assembly
and consider holding a mid-term conference to review the effectiveness of
equality and diversity work (Resolution 2007-5).
16. To hold the 6th EBU Deafblind Conference from April 25-27 2008 in
Croatia.
17. To support the struggle of our deafblind brothers and sisters for
legislative recognition of the status of deafblindness as a unique
disability in its own right at national and international level.
18. With the assistance of Deafblind International, to seek funding to
complete and follow up the collection of statistical data on deafblindness,
as well as surveys on the situation and needs of deafblind women, technical
aids and technology, and rehabilitation and services for deafblind people.
19. To maintain close links with the European Deafblind Union.
Rights
20. To use best endeavours at all levels to ensure that the UN Convention on
the Rights of Disabled People and its Protocol are treated and promoted like
all other UN human rights instruments, and support EBU national members with
the implementation in their country of those aspects of the Convention that
are of particular importance to blind and partially sighted people, in
particular by
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Preparing and disseminating to National Members written material about the
Convention which may serve as a basis for training and educational
activities to facilitate lobbying for the national ratification and
implementation of the Convention and its Protocol
Developing a legislative database on the Euroblind website which can be
used to monitor the implementation of the UN Convention in relation to the
needs and rights of blind and partially sighted people and different
countries' legislation in relation to the rights contained in the Convention
and
Renewing the Hermes Network as the Rights Network and refocusing it on
monitoring and promoting the implementation of the UN Convention at national
level
(Resolution 2007-2).
21. To hold a mid-term conference to review progress on implementation of
the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (Resolution 2007-2).
22. To campaign with the European Disability Forum (EDF) for a Disability
Specific Directive to complement at European level the UN Convention on the
Rights of Disabled People.
23. To support efforts to secure a legal right to rehabilitation and
recognition of deafblindness as a unique disability in its own right (see
also SO18 and 52).
Access to Information
24. In cooperation with the Technology and Culture and Education
Commissions, to campaign for the right of access to information in format of
choice at the same time as sighted people and without extra cost.
Campaigning should focus particularly on access to digital libraries,
publishers' files and television (see also Resolution 2007-1).
25. To continue to work with WBU and the Culture and Education Commission
for the dismantling of barriers to information posed by copyright regimes.
Development
26. To follow up the recommendations of the 3rd EBU Development Conference
held in Madrid, Spain, on 20-22 October 2006 (Appendix 1).
27. To encourage more EBU organisations to become involved in development
work through mentoring and twinning arrangements with more experienced
organisations.
28. To devise and implement a plan for capacity-building amongst
organisations of blind and partially sighted people in Eastern and Central
Europe.
29. To complete the feasibility study of an EBU Development Fund for Eastern
and Central Europe and implement its recommendations.
30. To assist blind and partially sighted people in developing countries to
benefit from mainstream healthcare programmes, for example to combat and
inform about HIV and aids, and to inform about eye care and the prevention
of blindness, etc.
31. To maintain and update the page on affordable technical devices and
equipment on the Euroblind website and investigate the possibility of
providing the information in languages other than English, such as French,
Spanish and Portuguese.
Technology
32. By working with the EU, standards bodies, regulators, manufacturers,
service providers and others, to pursue/promote accessible standards for
electronic and online banking, systems involving the use of touchscreens and
visual displays, synthetic speech, ATM's, websites, GPS systems and
household appliances, etc., based on the principles of accessible design and
design for all.
33. To recruit members from those countries which have not so far joined the
"Techwatch" email network of experts on new technology to help with
monitoring new developments.
34. To continue to work with Adobe Systems Europe to resolve the
difficulties for blind and partially sighted people posed by pdf formats.
Mobility and Transport
35. To resist the introduction of shared surface schemes throughout Europe.
36. To monitor the implementation of the new air transport regulation
through the appropriate national bodies, and campaign for regulations for
rail, maritime and bus transport which recognise the rights of people who
are blind, partially sighted and deafblind as well as those with additional
disabilities.
37. To campaign to ensure that the public environment and public transport
--vehicles, buildings and systems-- are built, refurbished and maintained to
universal design principles for the benefit of blind, partially sighted and
deafblind people and those with additional disabilities.
38. To seek membership for EBU of the relevant standards bodies, European
and international, with a view to achieving standardisation of audible,
visual and tactile crossings, and to encourage national members to seek
membership of their relevant national standards bodies considering these
issues.
39. To campaign for reciprocity of travel concessions for the visually
impaired across Europe, supported by an ID card to validate entitlement.
Culture and Education
40. To seek to ensure that all visually impaired children have equal access
to the standard national curriculum as well as the opportunity to learn
compensatory skills made necessary by vision loss. Parents and children
should have the right to decide on the form of education their children
receive, whether mainstream or special. EBU and its national members should
work towards ensuring free educational materials and books, as well as
technical equipment needed by visually impaired students.
41. EBU and national members should strive for comprehensive early
intervention services, and seek to ensure that support staff in mainstream
schools receive adequate training and that pupils and students have access
to good technical, psychosocial and pedagogical support.
42. EBU and national members should promote Article 9 of the UN Convention
on the Rights of Disabled People on access and Article 30 on participation
in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport.
43. To work with the EU and the Access to Information Commission to develop
minimum standards for copyright exceptions and digital rights management in
favour of visually impaired people, together with obligatory features for
incorporation into national legislation.
44. To hold a conference on access to culture and heritage.
45. To identify a number of projects which are capable of being delivered in
the areas of audio-description, digital television, access to audio-visual
content, tourism and standardisation of the systems providing independent
mobility and access to the cultural heritage.
Employment
46. To follow up EBU's 6-point plan for implementing the European Employment
Strategy set out at the "Views Ahead" conference held in Bratislava, Slovak
Republic, 27-30 October 2005 (Appendix 2) and participate in labour market
conferences organised by the EU.
47. For the benefit of people who acquire serious sight loss at work, to
lobby national governments to legislate for a period of leave to undertake
rehabilitation and training.
48. To support national members in monitoring National Action Plans required
under the European Employment Strategy and in lobbying their governments for
impairment-sensitive employment services in keeping with the models of
"seamless inclusion" and "the employment continuum" developed by the Working
Group on Rehabilitation, Vocational Training and Employment during the last
work period.
49. To continue the initiative to develop on EBU's website, as an example to
employers and a model for those choosing a career, a database of careers
which blind and partially sighted people have followed which is capable of
being promoted to policy makers and employers as well as visually impaired
individuals.
50. To explore the potential of self-employment as a suitable form of work
activity for visually impaired people with a view to identifying examples of
good practice and practical action that could make such employment available
to more visually impaired people, and encouraging access to mainstream
support and training, while also meeting the additional needs of visually
impaired entrepreneurs. Such examples of good practice, practical action and
case studies should be included on the EBU website for use by policy makers,
support organisations and individuals.
51. In the context of national employment strategies as a whole, to
encourage the adoption of measures such as anti-discrimination legislation,
tax reductions and quota systems for facilitating visually impaired persons'
integration into the labour market.
Rehabilitation
52. To seek a legal right to rehabilitation for all visually impaired people
in Europe and promote a minimum standard of rehabilitation that all visually
impaired people can expect from their community.
53. To campaign for the employment throughout Europe of sufficient teachers
of mobility, daily living and