On 11 November, ENIL submitted a position paper to the European Commission’s roadmap to propose a new European Disability Strategy 2021-2030. ENIL highlighted 3 essential shifts which are crucial for a successful post 2020 European Disability Strategy (EDS): First, the shift from segregation to inclusion; Secondly, the shift from disabled subjects to disabled citizens; Finally,…
In May this year, the European Commission confirmed the adoption of a European Child Guarantee in the first quarter of 2021. According to the Roadmap on the new Child Guarantee, the initiative will contribute to implementing Principle 11 of the European Pillar of Social Rights on childcare and support to children, and will be one…
I would like to inform you that on July 7. 2020, the High Court in Podgorica approved the Judgment of the Basic Court in Podgorica, which established discrimination against me, Miroslava-Mima Ivanović perpetrated on April 15. 2018. by the Municipality of Kotor, the State Election Commission and the State of Montenegro, denying me the exercise…
Disclaimer: The European Network on Independent Living maintains their strong stance against segregated educational settings. The text below does not aim to advocate for special education, but instead to highlight the vulnerability of disabled children when they don’t have proper support in place, to transition into mainstream settings. On the evening of Friday 27th, at…
After 5 years, it’s time for me to say goodbye as Office Manager at ENIL. Many things have happened since I started and I can only say it’s been great to get to meet so many friends and work with wonderful people. I want to thank everyone for being there when I needed them and…
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities made clear almost 15 years ago that placing people with disabilities in institutions is a violation of their human rights. Segregated and isolated from the rest of the world, residents are denied their rights to independent living, to inclusion in the community and to shape…
On 17 September 2020, the European Commission published the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy (ASGS) for 2021. In normal circumstances, the ASGS is the guide for the European Semester process. This year, however, the European Commission launched a new tool together with the ASGS – the RRF, or Recovery and Resilience Facility. In this article, we…
My academic career began in 2010 when I completed a BSc Psychology at Ulster University. My original intention was to train as a Clinical Psychologist, however my undergraduate degree introduced me to the realm of research. I quickly became fascinated with qualitative research methodologies particularly the ways in which we interpret the world around us…
The Threshold Association (or Kynnys ry in Finnish) is a cross-disability organization, which focuses on the basic and human rights of persons with disabilities. It was founded in Helsinki by Kalle Könkkölä and other students with disabilities in 1973. Nowadays the Threshold has offices in Helsinki, Kuopio, Oulu Tampere and Turku. In addition to this,…
ENIL is part of a 3-year European project called TRIPS, which was launched in February, and is funded by the European Union through Horizon 2020. The main aim of the project is to make the transport in seven European cities – Brussels, Stockholm, Sofia, Bologna, Cagliari, Lisbon and Zagreb – more accessible for everyone. To…
In its final report, the COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor (DRM) Coordinating Group calls for urgent action by States and the international community to halt the catastrophic failure to protect the lives, health and rights of persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report is entitled ‘Disability rights during the pandemic: A global report on…
In Brussels, 7 October 2020 – The European Network on Independent Living – ENIL welcomes the appointment of Prof. Gerard Quinn as the new UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, succeeding Catalina Devandas. Our organisation’s close cooperation with Prof. Quinn goes back at least 15 years, to Ireland, and we have…
The European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) is looking for a part time Office Manager for its Brussels office, with a starting date on 19th November, or as soon as possible after that. The Office Manager will be responsible for running ENIL’s administration and for financial management. This is a key post in the organisation,…
On 14 September we organised an online members’ meeting. Adolf Ratzka, a pioneer of the Independent Living Movement in Europe, gave a great speech on how to effectively advocate for PA legislation. It is already mentioned in the respective article, but we decided to publish it also separately because of the high interest of people….
On 7 September, the Board of the European Network on Independent Living decided unanimously to postpone the next Freedom Drive until September 2022. This decision has not been made lightly, as it is a key event in the calendar of Europe’s Independent Living movement, but it had to be made due to the ongoing COVID-19…
Following on from a successful regional members’ meeting in Poland in 2019, ENIL hosted an online members’ meeting on Monday 14 September, with an accompanying webinar on “Independent Living for All” on Tuesday 15 September. The two-day event was well-attended, and questions and debates were lively. Personal Assistance was in the focus of the discussions,…
This month, on the14th and 15th of September, ENIL participated in two webinars on inclusive education. The first one was hosted by COFACE Families Europe, entitled “Back-to-school: Triggering a meaningful shift towards inclusive education”. The S.H.I.F.T. guide, focusing on different areas (Support, Human Rights, Independence, Families, and society Transition), was used as the starting point…
Brussels, 23 September 2020 — On 21st September, the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) and MEP Katrin Langensiepen hosted an online event to address the key question of why the European Union continues to fund institutions for disabled people. Disabled people, activists, legal experts, representatives of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with…
Since the elections on 9 August 2020, people in Belarus have been peacefully protesting, in demand of new, fair and free elections. The ENIL member in Belarus — the Office for the Rights of People with Disability (ORPD) — shared an Open Letter with us on the current situation in the country. The letter was initiated…
My academic carrier at Vilnius University started and evolved in parallel with my work for the civil society organisation (CSO) Mental Health Perspectives. In autumn 2002, I started my Ph.D. studies and in March 2003, I started working as a project manager at Mental Health Perspectives (formerly known as the Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry and…
