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Inclusion Europe is organising an important meeting.
The meeting will take place in Geneva on 26 September. 4 children will come to the meeting. They will talk about why it is important for children with intellectual disabilities to participate in school, or in any other situation. People should listen to children with intellectual disabilities. They know best what they like and don’t like. If you want to see the meeting, you can click this link. |
Four children with intellectual disabilities will address two major United Nations (UN) Committees in a high-level event in Geneva on 26 September. As the first organisation to set up a joint meeting between the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Inclusion Europe will focus on discussing the meaningful participation of children with intellectual disabilities in all matters related to their own lives.
Whether in school, in child care services, or at the higher level of policy development, children should receive accessible information, and should be supported in meaningfully contributing to discussions. The four participating youngsters, coming from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Spain, will use words, posters, video, art and music to highlight the importance of listening to what children have to say. They are committed to showing committee members that children with disabilities should be offered the opportunity to speak up, and that their opinions should be duly taken into account.
Involving children in consultations is particularly important as countries are increasingly moving away from the outdated and ineffective model of institutionalising children with intellectual disabilities. Inclusion Europe will emphasize that all children should be able to participate in all environments, and that the degree to which children with severe disabilities or complex needs are able to meaningfully participate should be seen as an essential indicator. For meaningful participation to take place, key staff working with children should be trained on disability, but also on communication methods and specific advocacy provisions, to ensure that children can be heard and understood regardless of their level of disability.
Inclusion Europe will also call on both Committees to explicitly require that State Reports include evidence about the participation of children with intellectual disabilities, as provisions on the right to participate for this group of children are currently either poor or simply non-existent.
This event is organized in the frame of the “Hear our Voices” project, and has been developed by Inclusion Europe and the project partners (Eurochild, Cedar Foundation Bulgaria, Down Madrid and QUIP, Czech Republic), in collaboration with Lumos, UNICEF and the International Disability Alliance. It will take place as a side event to the regular meetings of the two Committees, and will be broadcast live here from 13:00 CEST.
The event is carried out with support from the Fundamental Rights & Citizenship Programme of the European Union.
