Inclusion Europe is going to Geneva to voice the concerns of persons with intellectual disabilities in the EU

The European Union (in short, EU) has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The United Nations (in short, UN) is a group of countries working together to make life better for all people. Now, the UN is finding out whether or not the EU has put this Convention correctly into practice. Inclusion Europe thinks that the EU could do more to guarantee the rights of people with intellectual disabilities. Therefore, the organization made a list of the most important priorities for persons with intellectual disabilities and their parents. They have sent this list, and a few important questions on the rights of people with disabilities, to the UN. The UN was happy to get this list. Inclusion Europe will be in Geneva on 1-2 April 2015 to talk to the UN. We hope our work will make the lives of people with intellectual disabilities better.

The UN CRPD Committee is currently reviewing the report of the European Union on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Although the EU has limited competences in many areas, Inclusion Europe is convinced that the European institutions could do a lot more to ensure the fulfilment of the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities in line with the provisions of the CRPD.

Therefore, Inclusion Europe has prepared a Briefing Document to highlight the most important priorities for persons with intellectual disabilities and their families living in the European Union. We have sent this Briefing Document together with our 5 most important questions to the UN CRPD Committee and got very positive responses so far. We hope that the List of Issues and the Concluding Observations published by the Committee will bring a strong message to the EU and lead to fundamental changes in EU policies and in the internal operational structures of the European institutions.

Inclusion Europe will be in Geneva on 1-2 April 2015 to voice our main concerns regarding the implementation of the UN CRPD and attend the EU side event with the CPRD Committee.