SCIL joins Campaigners from across Europe on Freedom Drive

Between the 14th and the 17th September, Robert Droy and Michael Grimmett from SCIL joined 440 people from 21 European countries in Strasbourg for the Freedom Drive 2009 to campaign for the rights of Disabled People. 

The Freedom Drive concentrates on Independent Living subjects such as deinstitutionalisation, the right to personal assistance and the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability.

 

The Freedom Drivers came up with 8 key demands that they felt the European Parliament should be working on and these demands were handed over to EU Parliament President Jerzy Buzek and to Richard Howitt MEP following a march through the streets of Strasbourg to the Parliament building.  

 

Jerzy Buzek and Richard Howitt said they were committed to fight for the rights of Disabled People and encouraged Freedom Drivers to keep lobbying their national MEPs to promote Independent Living in their countries.

Michael Grimmett from SCIL commented ‘ I found the 2009 Freedom Drive to be an inspiring experience.  To be around other Disabled People, who are fighting for a common goal was uplifting and gave me further impetus to carry on the campaign for independent living and equal rights. ’.

Following a meeting with some of the UK MEPs, Robert Droy pledged that SCIL would invite the MEPs in the South East area to a seminar in early 2010 to continue the dialogue further. More details to follow…..   

Freedom Drive Finalises Its Demands

On 16 Sep 09, 3 delegates from SCIL will join more than 400 Freedom Drivers from more than 20 countries as they march through Strasbourg to the EU Parliament. Regardless of their impairment, they are unified by one goal: Independent Living.

They will hand over the following demands to the President of the EU Parliament. 

1. We call on the European Community to ensure that Independent Living is central in the disability policies of the European Union, as expressed in the EU Disability Strategy, the Disability Action Plan and Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol.

2. We encourage the European Community to continue to assist the development of community-based services to achieve de-institutionalization across Europe.

3. We call for the implementation of our human right to a personal assistance service, fundamental to guarantee the enjoyment of Independent Living.

4. We call for the opportunity to equally enjoy the right to freedom of movement with the portability of personal assistance services.

5. We call for an earmarking of 5% of EU development funding to go to the development of Independent Living programs in developing countries.

6. We call on the European Community to fully ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to sign and ratify its Optional Protocol and for its articles to be implemented in EU legislation and policy. Incumbent in this is the application of pressure by the Institutions and representatives on member states to transpose the convention into law domestically as soon as possible

7. We call for a disability specific directive to uphold and protect the full rights and entitlements of people with disabilities across Europe.

8. Disabled people and our organisations must be decisively involved at all levels of policy-making including planning, producing and implementation.

Whilst in Strasbourg, the Freedom Drive participants will be meeting with many MEPs who have an interest in this area to look at how we can all work together to ensure these demands are taken seriously.

You can read more about the Freedom Drive on our blog over the coming weeks.                                           

 

SCIL Announce Landmark Conference

SCIL are pleased to announce an important conference for Disabled People regarding their human and legal rights.

Date:         Tuesday 28 October 2008

Time:        10.30am – 4.00pm

Venue:      Unity 12, 9-19 Rose Road, Southampton, SO14 6TE

The keynote speaker will be Luke Clements who is a Professor at Cardiff Law School and is renowned for his academic research and litigation work around the rights of people who experience social exclusion such as Disabled People, Carers and Travellers.

Luke Clements

The aims of the conference are to:

• Understand Disabled People’s rights to Independent Living

• Understand the impact of UK & European legislation

• Understand where the new United Nations Convention on the rights of Disabled People might help

 In afternoon workshops you will have an opportunity to:

• Discuss individual issues with Luke Clements

• Discuss how involvement with Skills for Care may assist in the improvement of services (with other service users)

• Discuss how working with SCIL and other organisations run by Disabled People could make our collective voice stronger

The conference for Disabled People ONLY will be held in our new fully accessible conference suite at Unity 12. More information and a booking form are downloadable below but demand for places are expected to be high so please return the booking form as soon as possible.

conference-booking-form1