Programme

Draft programme

EESC permanent Group on Disability Rights

Public hearing on the

Road to the Global Disability Summit: For an EU disability- inclusive development and humanitarian action

Tuesday, 18 February from 9.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.

Interactio and Room VMA 22, 2nd Floor, EESC Building, Rue Van Maerlant 2, Brussels, Belgium

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) stipulates that its State Parties have a legal obligation to respect, promote and fulfill the rights of persons with disabilities in various areas of life, including development cooperation and humanitarian action. Despite this, persons with disabilities are still being discriminated and not meaningfully and adequately included. This hearing will bring together organisations representing persons with disabilities, representatives from EU Institutions and multilateral and national agencies for development to discuss how to bridge the gap between development cooperation, humanitarian action and disability inclusion.

09.00 a.m. - 09.30 a.m. | Testing connections

09.30 a.m. - 09.40 a.m. | Welcome and introduction by Christophe Lefèvre, president of the EESC Permanent Group on Disability rights (PG DIS) 

09.40 a.m. - 11.00 a.m. | Panel 1 - Policies and programmes run by International organisations, multilateral and national development agencies

Moderator: Martina Širhalová, EESC PG DIS Member

Interventions by:

• Frederik Schutyser, Deputy Head of Unit, Humanitarian Aid Thematic Policies and International Humanitarian Law, DG for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), European Commission
• António Teixeira, Team Leader, Unit for Social Inclusion and Protection, Health and Demography, DG for International Partnership (DG INTPA), European Commission
• Ola Abualghaib, Head-Technical Secretary, United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD)
• Charlotte Vuyiswa McClain-Nhlapo, Global Disability Advisor, World Bank
• Niklas Saxen, Senior Humanitarian Adviser, Development Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland 

Q&A

11.00 a.m. - 11.15 a.m. | Coffee break

11.15 a.m. - 12.45 p.m. | Panel 2 - Practices and recommendations of OPDs and Member States

Moderator: Dominique Gillot, EESC PG DIS Member

• Jose Maria Viera, Executive Interim Director, International Disability Alliance (IDA)
• Nadia Hadad, Executive Committee, European Disability Forum (EDF)
• Mary Keogh, Chair, International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC)
• Marit Sorheim, Executive Director, Atlas Alliance, Norway
• Daria Sydorenko, Executive Director, League of the Strong, Ukraine
• Shuaib Chalklen, Secretary General, African Disability Forum

Q&A

12.45 p.m. - 01.00 p.m. | Closing remarks by Christophe Lefèvre, president of the EESC Permanent Group on Disability rights (PG DIS)

Interpretation requested from English, French, Italian, Czech, Lithuanian and Polish into English, French, Italian, Lithuanian and Polish.