On September 14th and 15th, the European Network on Independent Living, with the support of our Portuguese members from the Centro de Vida Independente, held our annual Regional Members Meeting, in Porto, Portugal. The purpose of the meeting was to meet with ENIL’s members from the region, discuss and share experiences on issues that are important for our movement.
Members from 11 countries from Southern and Western Europe (Albania, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, North Macedonia, Portugal, San Marino, Spain), plus Norway, came together, shared the developments from their countries and had the opportunity to learn about ENIL’s work from our staff, give feedback and provide suggestions for future activities. Of course, time for networking and socialising was also there, and everyone made sure to get the most out of it.
Day 1:
On the first day, our members had the opportunity to present and discuss the challenges and successes they face in their respective countries when it comes to advancing independent living. We heard many interesting things, but if we had to keep one it would be the fact that we have more things in common than one might think, and no matter where someone lives the fight of disabled people against the barriers and ableism is the same and ongoing everywhere. During this day, ENIL also provided insights and updates on our work, which was followed by discussion.
Day 2:
The second day was dedicated to personal assistance (PA). We had the opportunity to listen about the pilot projects on PA in Portugal and Greece, which again had similarities, as well as about supported decision making and the right to PA for all. These sparkled broader conversations and debates on personal assistance.
Before the Regional Members Meeting, the ENIL Board met in person on 13th September in Porto, for the first time after 4 years. In the afternoon, there was an exchange with ENIL staff, and a chance for the Board members to learn in more detail about developments at the EU and international level. Some of the Board members stayed for the Regional Members Meeting afterwards, which added additional value to the event.
As always, the Regional Members Meeting was a rich and enlightening gathering, which set the stage for future exchanges and actions. We would like to thank our Portuguese members from the Centro de Vida Independente for their valuable support in organising this meeting, as well as the Municipality of Matosinhos for hosting us. A report of the meeting will be available soon on our website.
