Personal Assistance

Almost two months have passed after the huge and successful ENIL Brussels Freedom Drive 2015! Herewith we present you with some of the important follow-ups of the event.

Precisely 3 months ago (on 18th August) ENIL published an article informing the wide public about one of our activities this year. ENIL is updating the information about Personal Assistance (PA) services available across Europe which was initially collected and analysed in 2013.

STIL, the founders of Independent Living in Sweden, yesterday issued a statement claiming that the Swedish government is pitting marginalized groups against each another.

7th ENIL Brussels Freedom Drive 2015 – Great Success!

New deadline for completing the ENIL Mobility Survey – 31 October!!!

The European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) launches its 7th Freedom Drive under the theme “Independent Living: The Next Generation!”

ENIL is currently researching the barriers faced by disabled people when wanting to move or study in another EU Member State. We aim to collect data from as many disabled people as possible who have experience in this field and are willing to share it.

Personal assistance (PA) is an important concept in the framework of the Independent Living philosophy and essential for disabled people in need to live their lives with dignity, fully included in the community and to realize their potential. PA is one of ENIL’s main areas of work as and again high on the 2015 agenda with the updating and expanding of the PA database for PA legislation in Member States and other European countries.

The Zero Project continues to be a success and has grown into an important world organization spreading good policy and practice for the rights of disabled people. With this article we take the opportunity to announce the Zero Project call on education and ICT for 2016. Pass the word to make sure that we, from the Independent Living movement, contribute with our good examples. Find the link for the registration of good policy and practice here.

As we get ready for the holiday season, we invite you to think of all those who need our support at this time of the year. Our partner organisation, the Centre LIVING UPRIGHT in Novi Sad, Serbia is one of the two accredited personal assistance providers in the country. However, because of the failure of…

While visiting ULOBA in the field and speaking with Lena Mari Steinfjell Karlsen and Henriette Nielsen (both from ULOBA), ENIL has learned that concrete restrictions are taking place on the use of personal assistance in Trondheim. The Municipality of Trondheim has restricted the use of personal assistance outside of Norway. A user must first ask…

Dublin, 12 May 2014 – ENIL welcomes the first complaint concerning access of disabled people to personal assistance submitted to the European Court of Human Rights. The case of Radi v. Romania, submitted earlier this month, challenges the manner in which personal assistance is provided to disabled people. It argues that such treatment amounts to…

Press Release from Onafhankelijk Leven vzw (CIL Flanders, Belgium) The disability sector is subject to a historical change as and from the 1st January 2015. The Flemish parliament has approved the Flemish Parliament decree which will realise this change. The decree of Individual Funding is providing a system in which the budget of the government…

The Norwegian Government has now included hours for personal support contacts and respite care in the act governing user-controlled personal assistance. ‘Respite care and personal support contact hours will be included in the act, which is an important improvement compared with the bill presented by the red-green coalition government last year. Instead of the 3,000…

Good news from Norway! 20 years after Sweden, Norway is to obtain an individual rights legislation for personal assistance! The last government proposed a legislation that would have been a great backlash! With that proposal personal assistance would no longer have been able to be considered as personal assistance in its true form. Uloba, one…

On 17 January 2014, the Southampton Centre for Independent Living – SPECTRUM held an event to celebrate 30 years since John Evans left an institution and started to live independently. Numerous independent living activists, from both the UK and abroad, gathered in Southampton or sent messages, paying tribute to John and saying “thank you” for…

In February 2013, the Slovenian Government lost the vote of confidence and all activities regarding Personal Assistance act came to a standstill until October 2013. The new government and its current Minister for Labour , Family and Social Affairs scrapped the draft of Personal Assistance act proposed by YHD – Association for Theory and Culture…

The European Network on Independent Living is still collecting tables on the situation of personal assistance from all European countries and is pleased to be able to add the table from Holland. ENIL would like to thank Ms. Jose Smits for her work producing this table. There are now twenty one tables on the ENIL…

The EU crisis seriously compromises the rights of people with disabilities and a study now brings us evidence to show that this is indeed true. On November 6th 2012, the European Foundation Centre launched a study entitled: “Assessing the impact of European governments’ austerity plans on the rights of people with disabilities”. The study reveals…

Invited paper presented at Colloquium “CRPD and EU Structural Funds: The way ahead for Independent Living”, United Nations Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner, Europe Regional Office, Brussels 7 May 2012 Adolf Ratzka, Ph D Independent Living Institute  I am with the Independent Living Institute, a Sweden-based thinktank for policy formulation in the field…