“Don’t You (Forget About Me): Europeans with a disability are at a greater risk of social exclusion. Furthermore, half of the disabled persons feel unfairly treated and discriminated against in day-to-day life, with a further 1 in 5 being victims of violence and abuse. Given that the EU is home to an estimated 100 million disabled persons, what can be done to create a more inclusive and accepting society for disabled persons?”
Minna Elshaikh (NL), Boris Ganzevoort (NL), Brian Huisman (NL), Maya Martens (NL), Marko Milivojevic (NL), Noah Noudari (NL), Emma Popov (NL), Hanna Robbens (NL), Iman Seid (NL), Oswin Šimánek (CZ, Chairperson)
The European Youth Parliament aims to raise awareness of the challenges encountered by persons with disabilities in their daily lives. Additionally, Member States are urged to guarantee equal treatment for persons with disabilities in education, healthcare, employment, and social life. The ultimate goal is to advance towards a fully inclusive society where persons with disabilities have equal access and opportunities, fostering respect and acceptance for everyone.
The above is decided upon because,
- Persons with disabilities, especially women, children and the elderly, are at higher risk of being victims of violence and/or abuse.
- Persons with disabilities are at great risk of social exclusion which may be evidenced by pivotal necessities such as inaccessible infrastructure, facilities and services.
- With approximately 4.8 million persons with disabilities being unemployed in the EU, this group experiences a higher unemployment rate than their non-disabled counterparts, a figure that increases notably for persons with severe disabilities.
- The proportion of early school leavers amidst persons with disabilities is significantly higher than than among their non-disabled counterparts.
- Alarmingly, 52 % of persons with disabilities feel discriminated against, particularly in education, employment or when providing goods, facilities and services.
- 20,9 % of persons with disabilities over the age of 16 face the risk of poverty.
- 4,1 % of persons with disabilities reported unmet needs for medical care, due to reasons such as financial difficulties, long waiting lists, or the distance required to access necessary services.
To that end, the European Youth Parliament,
- Calls upon the European Disability Forum to increase their efforts in building support groups for disabled persons to openly talk about their challenged in being accepted;
- Urges the European Commission to initiate a directive setting minimum standards of accessibility, such as having easy access to elevators with braille writing, or installing wheelchair ramps in public places;
- Asks the Member State’s Employment and Social Affairs ministers to compel companies to cater to disabled peoples’ abilities, by:
- providing jobs that suit their set of skills,
- adapting workplaces accordingly;
- Encourages the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion to invest funds in inclusive education in order to set up:
- special schools for severely disabled persons,
- media campaigns, consisting of posters, TEDtalks, and advertisements;
- Requests Member States to create an inclusive environment for persons with disabilities and encourage their education by subsidising tutoring and schools;
- Invites the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights to further promote the inclusion of disabled persons, by:
- promoting the learning and usage of sign-language and braille,
- funding the acquisition of assistance dogs,
- encouraging disabled people to participate in activities in day-to-day life.
Annex: Definitions belonging to the Motion for a Resolution by the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL)
For the purposes of this resolution:
- The Severity of Disabilities are defined by the “Global Activity Limitation Indicator” as follows:
- “Severely limited”: “Performing or accomplishing an activity cannot be done or only done with extreme difficulty, and that this situation has been ongoing for at least the past 6 months. Persons in this category usually cannot do the activity alone and would need further help from other people”.
- “Limited but not severely”: “Performing or accomplishing a usual activity can be done but only with some difficulties, and that this situation has been ongoing for at least the past 6 months. Persons in this category usually do not need help from other persons. When help is provided it is usually less often than daily”.
- “Not limited at all”: “Performing or accomplishing usual activities can be done without any difficulties, or that any possible activity limitation has NOT been going on for at least the past 6 months (i.e. it is not a long-standing limitation)”.