It is not acceptable for funders to continue paying for segregation of people with intellectual disabilities. All funders need to respect the rights of people with disabilities.They need to listen to what people with disabilities are saying about how the money should be used. Funders are, for example: Countries (including national, regional, local public budgets);…
Just notes and archives of some books I read and find interesting and relevant. “An intimate history of a divided land.” Surprising, revealing, and ultimately optimistic despite everything read. My book of 2023. “Many peoples, faiths, languages lived together, in a loose symbiosis, strong enough to last for centuries. It was not always peaceful or…
The EEG (European Expert Group) is a coalition of organisations advocating to replace institutionalisation with family- and community-based support. The EEG has played big part in establishing deinstitutionalisation as part of EU policies, and promoting the use of EU funds for this purpose. The EEG has created a number of useful tools, such as: Guidelines…
Gerard Quinn, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, published a report on transformation of services for people with disabilities. I tried to summarise. (Written for Inclusion Europe.) The report calls for support services to implement these changes: Services based on personhood, focused on supporting personal development and inclusion in the community. Policy…
László Bercse, Helen Portal and I contributed to a book about the impact of Covid pandemic on people with disabilities. Our chapter is based on Inclusion Europe report called Neglect and discrimination: Multiplied – How Covid-19 affected the rights of people with intellectual disabilities and their families. The book also covers: impact on mental health of children; how the…
As I write my usual end-of-year summary, there is only one topic that can be in focus: The incredibly courageous response of the Ukrainian people with disabilities and their families facing genocidal Russian war. And alongside it, the solidarity and support provided by all of you in the European and international Inclusion community. What Inclusion…
I was supposed to have a day off work that Friday. I was supposed to spend it off social media too. But I did neither, and I’m very happy with that. The day before, the United Kingdom’s House of Lords (parliament’s second chamber) published a report by its Adult Social Care Committee called “A gloriously…
Reflections on Europe in Action to End Segregation conference, September, Brussels. Originally published on Inclusion Europe blog. Oh, it was so delightful to have people around for the 3 days of our Europe in Action to End Segregation conference last week. To be able to see and feel the other persons reactions, emotions, body language….
I was kindly invited by FEANTSA to contribute to their magazine about the impact of the Russian war on Ukraine. This is what I wrote: The situation of people with disabilities in Ukraine There are over 2.7 million people with disabilities in Ukraine, of which some 260,000 are people with intellectual disabilities. They often experience severe…
Key parts of Inclusion Europe work to support people with intellectual disabilities and families in Ukraine: Fundraising and financial support There are 14,000 families brought together by our member in Ukraine alone. Many of them without jobs, pensions because of the war. Inclusion Europe launched an emergency fundraiser to help them. By mid-April, we raised…
