European Disability Forum releases Election Manifesto

From Sofia Echo:

The European Disability Forum (EDF) made public its 2009 European Election Manifesto “Nothing about Disabled People, Without Disabled People” on December 3
2008, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The manifesto, which contains the EDF’s Top 10 demands to make disability discrimination history, calls on politicians to assure equal access for voting and participation in electoral campaigns and for a European Parliament for all, the EDF said in a media statement.

The EDF is the European umbrella organisation representing the interests of 50 million disabled citizens in Europe. EDF membership includes national umbrella organisations of disabled people from all EU/EEA countries, as well as European NGOs representing the different types of disabilities, organisations and individuals committed to disability issues. The mission of the European Disability Forum is to ensure disabled people full access to fundamental and human rights through their active involvement in policy development and implementation in Europe.

Disabled citizens of Europe, representing one family out of four and 15 per cent of the electorate, could change the low turnout of the last years’ elections, if they are allowed to exert their right to vote, the EDF said.

“Today many obstacles still exist in front of disabled people to cast their vote independently due to inaccessibility of premises voting booths or ballots, not to mention those of us who cannot leave their homes or are imprisoned in institutions. The electoral debates are also inaccessible.

The politicians need to realise that disability should be addressed in all the possible ways – from its visibility in their campaigns to ensuring the right to vote," EDF president Yannis Vardakastanis said.

“The most recent and prominent example of the significance of the presence of the disability issues in the electoral campaign are the US elections in which the commitments of the winning candidate to solving problems of disabled people also influenced the vote turnout and results”, he said.

The right to vote is addressed in Art. 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which entered into force in 2008. It is the legal base of the Manifesto, in which disabled voters call for all their rights of citizens, including the rights to a decent income, access to services that allow participation in daily life, education and employment, to be taken into consideration by the future members of the European Parliament before and after the forthcoming elections.

The EDF said that it was inviting political leaders to endorse the Manifesto and to integrate its principles in their parties’ campaigns.

In a statement on December 2 2008, the European Commission said that the EU – whose current disability action plan ends in 2010 – was inviting debate on what it should do in the future for people with disabilities.

Local action was the theme of a conference held by the EC on December 1 and 2 to mark the European Day of people with disabilities.

Among other topics, participants discussed how to put EU funds to work at local level to improve life for the disabled.

The EU already has laws banning discrimination in the workplace. Earlier this year, the commission proposed legislation to ensure equal access in other areas. The law would apply to all people, not just the disabled.

Another legal instrument that will have a major impact on EU policy is the new UN convention on the rights of people with disabilities, which covers everything from justice and transport to health and information technology. The convention represents a significant change as it makes disability a human rights issue, not just a matter of social welfare, the EC said.