Date: 30 October 2025
Time: 9:30-13:00
Place: Rue de l’Industrie 10, 1000 Brussels; and online on Zoom
Co-organised by the European Disability Forum, the Validity Foundation, and the European Network on Independent Living.
*Captioning in English will be provided!*
Refreshments and lunch will be provided for in-person participants.
The FURI (European Funds for Fundamental Rights) project works to strengthen the capacity of stakeholders to monitor the use of EU funds. FURI advocates that EU funding needs to comply with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In the last decade, more than €1 billion was used to fund segregated services for persons with disabilities. The FURI project highlights ongoing issues including weak enforcement, limited rights awareness, and a lack of meaningful involvement of persons with disabilities in funding decisions.
This workshop aims to empower civil society organisations, experts, activists, and individuals with lived experience in institutions to tackle fundamental rights violations linked to EU funding in the disability sector. Participants will strengthen their ability to investigate and monitor the misuse of EU funds that contribute to segregation and institutionalisation.
Participants will gain access to practical tools and resources to monitor compliance and address rights violations.We will work to support people with lived experience to actively participate in advocacy and complaint processes. It is essential that their voices are central to reform efforts.
Agenda
| Subject | Duration |
|---|---|
| Opening and Context Settings Moderator: Rita Crespo Fernandez, ENIL | 15 Minutes |
| Furi Reports: Findings and Intersectional Cases Speaker: Ines Bulic Cojocariu, ENIL | 20 Minutes |
| Examples of Misuse of EU Funds Speaker: Aneta Genova, NIE | 30 Minutes |
| Coffee Break | 30 minutes |
| Practical Tools for Advocacy Speakers: Steven Allen, Validity Foundation Suzanne Doyle Guilloud, Validity Foundation Haydn Hammersley, European Disability Forum | 1 Hour |
| Capacity Building Workshop Small-Group Work (20 minutes) Plenary Sharing (15 minutes) | 35 Minutes |
| Q&A | 15 Minutes |
| Closing Remarks | 5 Minutes |
| Networking lunch | 1 Hour |