“There are some obvious gaps where more EU action is needed”. This is the main recommendation of the evaluation of the EU Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030, presented on Monday 2 December at a workshop organised by the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions as Parliament’s second disability rights week got underway.
The document deplores the fact that the rights of persons with disabilities have not been considered in European measures aimed at countering the current crises.
This is all the more alarming given the disproportionately high rates of unemployment and poverty among this population: in 2022, these figures will be 15.5% and 28.8% respectively, compared with 7.6% and 18% for persons without disabilities.
In light of this situation, the evaluation recommends strengthening coordination between national and European monitoring frameworks for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and improving the targeting of European funding. It also advocates better mainstreaming of disability into key initiatives such as the forthcoming European anti-poverty strategy and the affordable housing plan.
Finally, the report stresses the need to guarantee equal access to employment, education and adequate social services, and to develop tools to combat energy poverty and promote the independence of persons with disabilities.
More ambitious action is considered essential to overcome current weaknesses and guarantee equal rights by 2030.
Read the briefing ‘The EU Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030. Achievements and perspectives’: https://aeur.eu/f/eli (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)