At the beginning of March 2022, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the new European Care Strategy. This article explains the main points set out in ENIL’s response to this consultation. A new initiative on long-term care was first mentioned in the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan in March 2021. It…
Postsocialist Care – Violence – Paternalism The belated deinstitutionalization in post-communist societies is part of postsocialist care-violence-paternalism, economic scarcity, fear of impoverishment and a transgenerational aversion towards disabled people. In Slovenia alone, more than 22.000 children and adults experience today spatial segregation, loss of choices, and long-term institutionalization. Taking a look into history, the belated…
The European Network on Independent Living – ENIL and the ENIL Youth Network are extremely concerned about the situation of disabled people during the ongoing and devastating war in Ukraine, including the fate of the tens of thousands disabled children and adults in institutional care facilities. We are also concerned that the war will result…
The European Union is the biggest development and humanitarian aid donor in the world. It is also the only regional organisation to have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). As such, it is in a perfect position to address the ongoing social exclusion and segregation of children, adults and…
As we near the end of the year, we wish to take an opportunity to reflect on what we have done, and highlight other memorable moments. Instead of the usual Newsletter, we will take you through the year 2021 at the European Network on Independent Living. We begin with some facts and move on to…
The annual meeting of our EU Funds for Our Rights Campaign took place on 15 November. Due to the situation with COVID-19, the meeting took place online, like the last year. The meeting was attended by representatives from 11 EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain, and…
On the 24th November, ENIL held a webinar on accessible housing, an issue of major importance for us. It took place on Zoom and was recorded through ENIL’s YouTube channel. The event was introduced by ENIL’s Deputy Director Ines Bulic Cojocariu, and our first speaker was Thiandi Groof, a self-advocate from the Netherlands, who spoke…
I had the privilege of attending the European Law Academy (ERA) Annual conference on the rights of persons with disabilities from 17th – 19th November 2021. The main topic was the right to independent living, with presentations on disability human rights law, relating to a few different areas such as deinstitutionalisation (DI) and the right…
Between the 21st and 23rd of September, ENIL held online the Freedom Surf conference, which replaced our usual flagship event of the Freedom Drive, that was postponed due to COVID-19 and the restrictions surrounding the pandemic. We had numerous events each day, such as meeting with ENIL and ENIL Youth Network boards, workshops, and interesting…
The European Network on Independent Living – ENIL learned, with deep sorrow, that our former President and Board member Kapka Panayotova, passed away suddenly on Thursday, 14 October 2021, at the age of 65. Kapka served as a Board member at ENIL for several terms and was the President until standing down during the General…
France was reviewed by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Committee) in August 2021. Meetings with the French DPOs took place at the beginning of August. Our French members, Coordination Handicap et Autonomie – Vie Autonome France, submitted a written contribution prior to the review. In its Concluding Observations (COs), the…
On 21 – 23 September, the European Network on Independent Living will hold its first Freedom Surf. This three-day online event will be held instead of the Freedom Drive, which was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic for 2022. The Freedom Surf will consist of a series of events, some of which are being organised…
The European Network on Independent Living – ENIL and i-living, the Independent Living Organization of Greece, welcome the Greek Deinstitutionalisation Strategy, Action Plan and other accompanying documents, published by the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) last month. The Strategy is an important step in recognising the need to move away…
On 16- 17 September, the Committee on the Rights of the Child is holding a Day of General Discussion (DGD) on “Children’s Rights in Alternative Care”. The purpose of the DGD is to look at the situation of children in alternative care, to discuss areas of concern, to review implementation of relevant international standards, including…
At the end of May, the Director of the Cercibeja institution for disabled people, in the Portuguese region of Alentejo, was arrested after the sexual assault allegations of a 26 year-old disabled woman. In addition to the allegations of sexual violence, the European Network on Independent Living – ENIL and Centro de Vida Independente Portugal…
On Thursday, 17th June 2021, the European Network on Independent Living – ENIL and the Validity Foundation hosted a side event as part of the 14th Session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The event, entitled “Impunity for Investments in Disability Segregation…
In the wake of the terrible killings in Potsdam in Germany on the 28th of April, we reached out to our members in the country to ask them to give their thoughts on what happened and what can be done to prevent such horrors from happening again in the future. The basic summary of what…
On 10 December 2020, a long-awaited Deinstitutionalisation Support Act bill was proposed in the Republic of Korea by lawmaker Choi Hyeyoung, with support from 67 lawmakers. The law consists of two main parts; closing all forms of institutions in Korea and supporting the resettlement of persons with disabilities. First, the bill aims to close EVERY…
On 16th April, the European Network on Independent Living – ENIL, in the framework of the European Coalition for Community Living – ECCL and in partnership with Nic Crosby (GatherBuildWork), organised a successful webinar on European deinstitutionalisation reforms. The webinar, titled “Deinstitutionalisation in Practice – A Conversation with Practitioners and Disabled People”, brought together speakers…
Disability Rights International (DRI), the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) and Validity Foundation sent a joint contribution to the permanent representation of the European Union at the United Nations, in preparation of the EU – Ukraine Human Rights Dialogue. The submission, sent on 26 April, focuses on the situation of children in institutions and…
