Proud, Strong and Visible
European Network on Independent Living
ENIL is a user-led network of disabled people, with members throughout Europe. Our mission is to advocate for Independent Living values, principles and practices: provision of personal assistance and other community supports and services, a barrier-free environment and adequate technical aids, together making full citizenship of disabled people possible.
About our organisation
ENIL is a network based on solidarity and peer support
ENIL is a forum for all disabled people, Independent Living organisations and their non-disabled allies on the issues of Independent Living. ENIL represents the disability movement for human rights and social inclusion, based on solidarity, peer support, deinstitutionalisation, democracy, self-representation, cross-disability and self-determination. Our vision is of Europe where all disabled people are able to exercise choice and control over their lives, on an equal level with others; where they are valued members of the community and can enjoy all of their human rights, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Join us!
ENIL works to strengthen the empowerment of disabled people, through providing resources for peer support and peer-to-peer training. ENIL enhances the European disability sector by providing an arena for the sharing of disabled people’s experience of services and by providing expertise on independent living. Our Youth Network brings together young people, making their voice heard in the independent living movement.
Recent News
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Disability as a subtopic? New publication on EU Care Strategy
Last October, the Foundation of European Progressive Studies (FEPS), the party foundation of the European social democrats, began working on a policy study on …
Judy Heumann has left us.
The worldwide Independent Living and Disability Rights Movement has lost its most outspoken, powerful, and tireless spokesperson. Judy Heumann passed away on March 4, …
The Global Coalition on Deinstitutionalisation Meets in Mexico to Discuss Next Steps
From 23 – 24 January 2023, members of the Global Coalition on Deinstitutionalisation (GC-DI) met for the first time face to face in Mexico …
Find out about Independent Living in your country
The Independent Living survey was launched in 2020, to find about the state of independent living around Europe. Its results are updated regularly and shared with policy and decision makers at the European level.
Access IL MapUpcoming Events
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29/03/2023 – 29/03/2023
ENIL-ECCL Webinar Series on Deinstitutionalisation: Sharing and Seeking SolutionsHow do we get the message out about the importance of closing institutions? 29 March 2023, 15:00 – 16:30 CET The ENIL-ECCL Webinar Series …
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12/06/2023 – 17/06/2023
Study Session 2023 (Apply NOW)The ENIL Youth Network, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, is holding a study session at the European Youth Centre Strasbourg (EYCS) from …
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