The European Disability Strategy 2020-2030: young persons with disabilities’ perspectives and expectations

A speech presented by Francesca Sbianchi of UICI, EBU’s Italian member, on the occasion of the European Day of Persons with Disabilities.

With a great deal of enthusiasm I accepted this opportunity that I have been offered to represent the European Disability Forum‘s Youth Committee at this very important event. It is a true honor and also a great responsibility and I hope that I’m up to the task. I will talk about what is dear to my heart, which is based on my own experience and the experiences of many young persons I know.

I will go into specifics, but I do think I need a premise to remark the following.

In the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities there is a word that is only mentioned once. Therefore it might seem secondary compared to other words used. This is the word "empowerment" and it is -quite rightly- mentioned in Article 6 on "Women with disabilities". But what does empowerment mean? It is a word, a noun full of meaning. If one looks it up on the internet, it states that it deals with becoming self-aware and being in control of one’s own decisions, choices and actions in personal relations but also in political and social life.

If one rereads the Convention with the meaning of empowerment in mind, then one realizes that this concept actually permeates the entire text. I can point to article 8 on “Awareness-raising”, for example. If we read this in conjunction with Article 24 on Education, then it becomes clear how important self-determination for persons with disabilities is, and how important it is for these persons to be aware of their own rights and their own potential, throughout the lifelong learning cycle. It is clear, in fact, that when the Convention talks about "combatting stereotypes”, “promoting awareness of the capabilities and contributions of persons with disabilities", and when the Convention goes on talking about "recognition of the skills, merits and abilities of persons with disabilities", "development, by persons with disabilities of their personality, talents and creativity, as well as their mental and physical abilities, to their fullest potential ", then the Convention is really talking about empowerment.

We all know that what the Convention calls for, unfortunately, is not always implemented, and certainly not fully implemented. There is a dichotomy between how finely worded the text is and what the reality of the persons with disabilities on the ground is.

If one is not aware of one’s own rights it is difficult to exercise those rights and have them respected.

The European Commission makes programmes and actions available to support social policies which also refer to the inclusion of persons with disabilities. These programmes and actions are fundamental tools to make sure that people can participate, as well as for personal and collective development. However, if information is not made available sufficiently to the people who should enjoy these programmes, then they can’t use them.

Furthermore, one shouldn’t forget that persons with disabilities have specific needs, which need to be taken into account, and which are added to the needs of persons without disabilities.

I am firmly convinced that the European Commission's programmes, such as Erasmus +, the European Solidarity Corps, and DiscoverEU, can have an important impact on the life of young persons, not only because they promote international mobility, but also because they allow them to acquire new competencies, e.g. to know how to learn about new cultures and contexts, which leads to growth and an enriching experience, which then allows one to enter the labour market in a more effective way.

Unfortunately, of all the European young persons who have participated in these programs only 1% are persons with disabilities. Yet, Erasmus + was written as a program which was to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities, in compliance with the UNCRPD.

I would like to tell the story of a blind girl, who, as part of the Erasmus programme, was to spend 9 months in a country in the north of Europe. I won’t tell you the name of the girl nor where she went, because it is just an example, a case that could have occurred in any other country. She was given accessible accommodation, but in an area of ​​the city a long way from the university. Every day she, with her guide dog, had to take public transport and walk across steep streets. During the winter when it was snowing, this really made life difficult for her. One can imagine how hard it was for this girl to be independent when going to and back from the University with her guide dog. She explained her difficulties to the relevant office of the host university, but she was told that she had already been provided with accessible accommodation. In the end, the person in question had to stop her placement abroad, because unfortunately the accommodation that was given was not adequate to the specific needs she had.

I wanted to tell you this girl’s story because it can serve as an example to show that fairly straightforward obstacles become insurmountable unless the principle of “reasonable accommodation” is followed and the solutions provided meet one’s needs. This girl, in fact, wanted to believe in herself and decided to study and live abroad for many months, but unfortunately she came up against complex and rigid administrative procedures under the Erasmus programme.

I am convinced that international mobility programmes which fully include young people with disabilities should be designed in such a way that they are flexible and not rigid and can therefore be catered to specific needs. We need to make sure that we can help and support these people as they grow. For example, if young persons with disabilities go abroad, then it would be useful for them to receive an advance payment before they travel, because they have higher costs abroad than others.

This is one of the recommendations resulting from the ongoing "Inclusive Mobility Alliance" project, coordinated by the Erasmus Student Network-ESN, bringing together -among other partners- the European Disability Forum and the Italian Union of Blind and Partially Sighted in collaboration with the European Blind Union-EBU. The project seeks to achieve synergy at the European level so it can increase the number of students with disabilities who go abroad for their university studies as part of the Erasmus + programme. It foresees also the production of a toolkit on inclusive mobility and some recommendations so that the ERASMUS + programme can become increasingly inclusive.

Just as within the Inclusive Mobility Alliance a synergy was set up between the representative organizations of people with disabilities, services, networks and foundations, which all work in the field of youth policies and in the field of university education, in the same way close cooperation should be fostered between the European Commission and Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) that should always be consulted when programmes are designed and managed so that their specific needs can be taken into account.

Information on these programmes should be disseminated fully, in formats accessible to persons with disabilities, and effectively. The programmes themselves should give full and real empowerment to young persons with disabilities, so that they can enjoy the instruments which are being made available to them by the EU, and so that they are in the driving seats of their own lives and can decide matters for themselves in full knowledge of the facts. Of course accessibility remains important and is one of the essential factors to achieving full inclusion but empowerment as we see it goes to the heart of all of the policies regarding persons with disabilities.

In compliance with article 27 of the UNCRPD, one of the areas for action which is part of the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 is work and the labour market.

Work is essential to humans: being able to work is a right that every person has and should be able to enjoy and at the same time a duty of fundamental importance because, beyond the economic perspective and what one might earn, it also has a social and psychological implication and has a decisive impact on the quality of a person’s life.

For persons without disabilities this plays a role, but one can imagine how important it is for persons with disabilities who can achieve economic independence through their work. In fact, for them as persons and citizens it ensures equality in the rights and the duties they have, so making sure that persons with disabilities can be included into the labour market is important because it gives them self-esteem, self-awareness and allows them to be useful and productive, and it allows them to use their own competencies and to achieve autonomy. They will also experience personal growth and will achieve social inclusion. It will work to the benefit of everyone if we can have an effective social system where every person is given the right to their own income and where they can become part of our economy in their own way, by making sure that we are guided by the principle of "the right person in the right job".

If one looks at the figures for persons with disabilities in jobs, then the figures certainly are not very encouraging. Therefore, when drafting the future Strategy, the European institutions should outline policies to further support the inclusion of people with disabilities in the labor market. It is important we make sure we also adhere by the fundamental right of self-determination that millions of people with disabilities in Europe have.

The freedom of movement within the European Union is one of the main factors in finding jobs. This has become normality for many European citizens, but unfortunately not for young persons with disabilities who are denied this right when they want to study, work or live for a certain period of time in a different country. The portability of social security services related to disability has not been regulated yet. This is a deterrent for young persons with disabilities who are discouraged from moving abroad and studying or working elsewhere because certain services are not available abroad, and therefore they are not in a position to start a new life in a different country on a par with young persons who do not have disabilities.

Freedom of movement should be enhanced. And therefore we should be promoting the European Disability Card which at the moment is still a project or an experiment including just a few Member States. We need to make sure that this is rolled out everywhere and that this becomes a clear request so that persons with disabilities can receive the same services across the EU.

I have been asked to talk about the expectations and perspectives of young people with disabilities in the context of the European Disability Strategy 2020-2030, and I would like to share with you one of my own requests. I am a forward-looking person and I have a great deal of hope. I have no fear my dreams won’t come true. I hope there is a future where young persons with disabilities- and everyone- don’t have to shy away from studying or working abroad because there are obstacles in their way. Somebody may think I am just a dreamer, but I am a young person who decides to believe in Europe and believe in Europe’s capacity to respond effectively to the needs in civil society.