Brussels and Sofia, 11 February 2019 – The European Network on Independent Living, the Centre for Independent Living Sofia and the Validity Foundation are calling on the Bulgarian Government to immediately suspend a programme which will channel European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds into the building of a large number of residential care facilities for…
The struggle for personal assistance has been long and very hard in Slovenia. Our association was a pioneer and for many years we were lonely riders who have been fighting for personal assistance according to the ENIL principles. Our vision of personal assistance as a basic human right, not just as new social right, was…
2019 is a special year for the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) – we are celebrating our 30th Anniversary! To mark this occasion, we will be taking stock of what has happened during this time, speak to the some of our founders and look at what we can do to make the movement stronger…
On 14 January, ENIL, together with the European Disability Forum (EDF), Disability Rights International (DRI) and the Validity Foundation sent a joint letter to Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen. In the letter, we have asked Commissioner Thyssen to maintain the wording in Article 6(2) (Equality between men and women…
At the end of 2018, the Independent Living Association (Associazione Vita Indipendente ONLUS) held three protests for independent living in Florence, Italy. The protests took place on 20 and 30 November, as well as on 18 December in front of the Regional Council of Tuscany (which is something like a regional parliament), and received significant…
This January, a one-man committee submitted a proposal about the Act on Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments to the Swedish government. The proposal entails such severe changes to current rights that – if implemented – big institutions will be built in Sweden again. Above all, there are three suggestions that would jeopardise…
2018 was a difficult year for ENIL – just before the year began, we learnt that we had lost the European Commission operating grant, which we had for a number of years. So, at the beginning of the year, we had to say goodbye to our Director Zara Todd, who had joined us just a…
In the November issue of the Newsletter we wrote about the protest of Eduardo Jorge in front of the Portuguese Assembly on 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Eduardo, who lives in a nursing home, is fighting for his right to choose where and with whom to live. During the protest, he…
With Christmas around the corner, the disability community has gathered in Brussels for the European Disability and Development Week (from 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities until 7 December, Human Rights Day). For ENIL, the week started on the 2nd of December, when some of the ENIL members, staff and Board came…
Throughout the world, children with disabilities are separated from families due to stigma, discrimination, and economic marginalization. Children with disabilities are more at risk of being placed in institutions than other children, and they are often left out of deinstitutionalization and community programs. Without community-based supports to help families keep their children with disabilities, children…
This week, ENIL was contacted by Eduardo Jorge, a disabled activist from Portugal, who asked us to share information about his protest in front of the Portuguese Assembly on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, on 3 December. Eduardo lives in a nursing home and decided to protest in order to…
According to the OHCHR, General comments are a treaty body’s interpretation of the provisions of its respective human rights treaty provisions and thematic issues. As such, the purpose of a General comment is to interpret and clarify substantive provisions, not only with regard to the reporting duties of State parties but also when it comes to…
Between the 25th and 27th of September, Nadia Hadad (Board member) and Zara Todd (Senior Advisor) attended the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s Fundamental Rights Forum in Vienna. Both Nadia and Zara are members of the EU FRA’s Fundamental Rights Platform Advisory Panel. The Forum bought together over 650 human rights champions from civil society, business,…
On 29 and 30 May, the European Commission published its proposals for the European Social Fund+ (ESF+), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund, for the new programming period 2021 – 2027. The two legislative proposals, as well as the Common Provisions Regulation, will be negotiated with the European Parliament and…
In cooperation with Inclusion Europe, we drafted a Fact sheet on Independent Living for People with Intellectual Disabilities. The new fact sheet covers the questions of whether people with intellectual disabilities can benefit from independent living, personal assistance, and how they can be supported in making decisions and being in control of their life. Download…
On 8th June, ENIL, the Center for Independent Living Sofia and the European Disability Forum organised a conference on “Investing in Independent Living” in Sofia, Bulgaria. We decided to organise the event for several reasons – the fact that Bulgaria is holding the EU Presidency until the end of this month, to coincide with the publication…
ENIL has been busy with the EU Funds for Our Rights’ Campaign, as we mark the middle of the current programming period and more NGOs come forward with concerns about the use of EU Funds in their countries. On 11 June, we attended a Roundtable Discussion on the Deinstitutionalisation of Social Care in Croatia. The…
This year, Sumero from Bosnia and Herzegovina became an associate member of ENIL. In this article, they share information about their work. Sumero promotes human rights, advocacy and self-advocacy of intellectually disabled people to achieve social inclusion through deinstitutionalization, including the implementation of comprehensive community-based services and housing. This consists of giving disabled people the…
On 14th June, ENIL participated in the plenary meeting of the EU High Level Group on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and other forms of intolerance, organised by DG Justice at the European Commission. ENIL is part of the Facing All the Facts Project, coordinated by CEJI – A Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe. The aim…
After co-hosting a seminar on the topics of the UN Open Ended Working Group on Ageing in April and ENIL’s submission to the working group, AGE Platform Europe continued the conversation at their Annual Conference on June 6th. ENIL was again represented by EVS Volunteer Miriam Graute and Advocacy Officer Frank Sioen to ensure that…
