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Europe in Action is Inclusion Europe’s biggest event.
Europe in Action takes place every year. At the event, people with intellectual disabilities, their families and carers It is very important for people with intellectual disabilities to advocate for their rights |
Inclusion Europe and Anffas welcomed more than 350 participants to the Europe in Action Conference, a yearly event that has become a tradition for many people with intellectual disabilities, their families, carers and representative organisations. The event, which took place in Rome on 21 and 22 May addressed effective and innovating ways of strengthening the self-advocacy movement at local, regional and national levels, while discussing the impact of self-advocacy on families.
The conference also debated ways in which families and self-advocates can work together to promote the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). “Our credibility hinges on getting support for self-advocacy right,” said Maureen Piggot, Inclusion Europe President, at the opening of Europe in Action 2015.
The conference programme mixed personal stories from self-advocates with sessions delivered by experts in the field or European policy-makers. The personal and political dimensions of self-advocacy were central to the programme, particular in relation to issues such as legal capacity, political participation, accessibility, health, education and community-living.
“People with intellectual disabilities are experts when it comes to their lives,” said Inclusion Europe Director Geert Freyhoff. “Self-advocates are therefore in the best position to advise policy-makers, and should be involved and consulted in all decisions that affect the interests and wellbeing of persons with intellectual disabilities,” he added.
Pictures from the conference are available on Inclusion Europe’s Facebook page.
Read a publication on Europe in Action in Italian.
