EESC and CRPD

More than 80 million people in the EU live with some sort of disability in a world that remains inaccessible in many ways…

More than 50% of them are unemployed They are often shut out from inclusive education and from society

They face prejudice and stigma on a daily basis Due to COVID-19, the situation of people with disabilities (PWDs) is at risk of deteriorating

Unless we do something about it…

The EESC is at the forefront of the fight for disability rights in the EU

It is fighting for the new EU disability strategy to be fully aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

The CRPD is the first treaty to empower PWDs to live as equal and active members of society It requires society to remove the barriers preventing them from being fully included

Ioannis Vardakastanis, EESC member: "It's the EU's obligation to implement the CRPD, out of duty to the millions of PWDs in Europe"

Pietro Vittorio Barbieri, EESC member: "The new disability strategy must take into account the devastating effects of the COVID-19 crisis on PWDs"

Krzysztof Pater, EESC member: "It is unacceptable that millions of PWDs are deprived of their voting rights. This is a question of human dignity!"

Gunta Anča, former EESC member: "Women with disabilities need special support, yet there is no proper focus on them in any of the EU strategies…"

Join us in our fight to make the post COVID-19 Europe more accessible and inclusive!

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