Personal Assistance

In April 2016 a new collective contract was signed by unions in France, affecting the work of personal assistants for disabled people.

On Sunday, 20th March, 10 wheelchair users accompanied/supported by a team of personal assistants participated in the Urban Trail in Gent.

All disabled people, associations and concerned persons are invited to sign the Manifesto.

On Tuesday, 16th February strong and adamant Independent Living activists from the Centre for Independent Living in Firenze-Toscana (Italy) occupied the headquarters of the Regional Parliament protesting against the budget cuts implied by the state on independent living funds for disabled people.

Three years ago disabled people in Latvia received fantastic news – personal assistance (PA) legislation was to be introduced in Latvia. The legislation came into effect on 1st January 2013. In short, disabled people could apply for personal assistance funded through the national government and administrated by the local municipalities. It did not take long…

ENIL’s advisory panel member Raffaello Belli recently wrote an article as a reaction to the commonplace excuses of the authority figures in Italy when it comes to lack of funding for personal assistance. ENIL is perseveringly working in the area and next week a report on the situation of the personal assistance in Europe will be published.

In Valencia on December 15, 2015 ENIL with partners hosted a successful event on Personal Assistance as a tool for full participation in society and for leaving institutions behind.

On the day after the celebrations ENIL makes an overview of the numerous and exciting events that happened throughout Europe. The list of events below is by no means exhaustive, it only gives a flavour of the tremendous excitement that could be felt thanks to all independent living and human rights activist!

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…