Brussels, 02/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Council of Europe, in collaboration with the Spanish government, is organising a Ministerial conference on the integration of the disabled, where Ministers from 45 countries will be attending. The main aim of the conference is to improve the quality of life for around 80 people in Europe who are disabled. With this goal in mind, Ministers are being called on to draw up new legal provisions for guaranteeing equal opportunities for the disabled; develop new innovative approaches in service provision for responding to the needs of disabled people, discuss the promotion of integrating disabled women and disabled people who have severe needs. This conference is the main contribution of the Council of Europe to the "The European Year of People with Disabilities ".
The work will be introduced by Walter Schwimmer, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Eduardo Zaplana, Spanish Minister of Work and Social Affairs, Peter Schieder, President of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly and Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe and representatives from the European Commission and OECD. The conference is expected to close with the adoption of a Ministerial declaration on moving forward to the full participation as citizens, which will outline a European policy programme for the disabled for the next ten years.