European Disability Forum

What we do?

The European Disability Forum (EDF) represents and advocates for the interests of 50 million people with disabilities in Europe . Its mission is to promote equal opportunities for disabled people and to fight for their human rights. EDF was created in 1996 to defend issues of common concern to all disability groups, and to be an independent and strong voice for disabled citizens in dialogue with EU and other international institutions. EDF is actively involved in influencing policy development and implementation in the European Union.

Who we are?

EDF has 129 member organisations who reflect a wide range of concerns across the diversity of the disability movement. Our members include:

•  National Disability Councils : independent platforms of disabled people and their families in 25 EU Member States, Bulgaria, Iceland , Norway and Romania ;

•  European NGOs : representing groups of disabled people and other disability groups making up the diversity of the movement.

"Nothing about disabled people without disabled people"

Our key objectives

Equal treatment and non-discrimination

•  a comprehensive non-discrimination legislation ensuring equal treatment of disabled people in all areas of life;

•  full implementation at national level of the Employment Framework Directive;

Respect for human rights

•  an international Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities;

Full accessibility

•  full access to transport, built environment, information technology;

• mandatory accessibility criteria for EU structural funds and other
  significant EU funding programmes;

Mainstreaming of disability

• ensuring disability issues are integrated into all EU policy areas

Positive action

• proactive policy initiatives and incentives promoting social
  inclusion and equal opportunities of disabled people

European Disability Forum
3941 Rue du Commerce, 1000 - Brussels
Tel:+ 32 2 282 46 00 Fax: + 32 2 282 46 09
vwwv.edf-feph.org – communication@edf-feph.org

People with Disabilities in the
European Union

Some Facts and Figures

•  According to the latest 2001 Eurostat report on Disability and Social Participation in Europe, 14.5 % of the present EU population report having some sort of disability. This figure can rise up to 25 per cent in the new Member States;

•  Disabied people represent 50 million persons in the enlarged European Union;

•  Of those persons aged between 16 and 64 years, 44.6 million - i.e. one in six (15.7%) -stated that they had a long-standing health problem or disability;

•  One in four Europeans has a family member affected by a disability;

•  Overall there is little difference in the prevalence of disability among males and females, while the prevalence rates of a long-standing health problem or disability strongly increase with age. They are higher among those with lower education, among the widowed, divorced and the inactive;

•  Non-disabled people are more than twice as likely to have reached third level education

than people who have a severe disability;

•  Labour force participation is indeed much lower for disabied people: 78% of severely disabied persons aged 16-64 are outside of the labour force as compared to 27% for those without a disability.

•  Even among those disabied persons in the labour force, the unemployment rate is nearly twice as high among severely disabied people as compared to the non-disabled.

•  The percentage of the working-age population with a long-standing health problem or disability varies widely among countries, with the highest percentage (32.2%) found in Finland and the lowest in Romania (5.8%). This wide-ranging spectrum might also reflect differences in how respondents perceived the question ad their cultural traits;

•  The more severe the degree of disability, the lower the participation in the labour force: only 20% of the severely disabied people as compared to 68% for those without a long-standing health problem or disability;

•  the source of income of disabied persons is less likely to be earnings and more likely to be a pension benefit and that this income is generally dramatically lower that the income of non-disabled people

•  One out of two disabied persons never participated to leisure activities such as cultural activities (e.g. theatre, cinema, concerts, library visits,....) nor participated to sports activities;

•  36% of disabled persons never travelled abroad nor made any day excursions because of inaccessible services;

•  Disabied people are more isolated than people with no disability. There are more than twice as many disabied people who meet their relatives and friends less than once or twice a month than non disabied persons;

•  Persons with reduced mobility, including disabied persons among elderly persons and other persons with temporary reduced mobility, make up 40% of the population for whom public transport and environment infrastructure is generally not accessible;

•  97% of Europeans think that something shouid be done to ensure better integration of people with disabilities into society.

Sources:
"Eurobarometer survey 54.2 and Eurostat report: Disability and social participation in Europe, 2001 edition
"Statistics in focus - Population and Social Conditions - "Employment of disabied people in Europe in 2002" by Eurostat

Press enquiries: European Disability Forum: Helena Gonz à lez-Sancho Bodero
Tel: +32/2/282.46.04, E-mail: communication@edf-feph.orq ; Mobile phone : 0473 51 2423

(spagnolo)

HISTORIA DEL FORO EUROPEO DE LA DISCAPACIDAD
(EUROPEAN DISABILITY FORUM - EDF)

El ano 1993 marca el inicio de una nueva fase en la historia del movimiento de la discapacidad europeo, con la adopción de las Normas de las Naciones Unidas sobre la igualdad de oportunidades de las personas con discapacidad, y en particular, la norma n°18: "Los Estados deberìan reconocer a las organizaciones de personas discapacitadas el derecho a representar a los interesados a los niveles nacionales, regionales y locales. Deberìan también reconocer el papel consultivo de las organizaciones de personas discapacitadas en la toma de decisiones sobre las cuestiones que se producen beneficio a la discapacidad."

Esta norma, contribuyó a la creación del Foro Europeo de la Discapacidad, establecido inicialmente corno òrgano consultivo de la Comisión europea, en el marco del programa de acción comunitario HELIOS II.

En 1996, el EDF se erigió como voz independiente en el debate politico europeo. Òrgano representativo de todos los tipos de discapacidad y de las familias de las personas con discapacidad en Europa que no pueden representarse a si mismas, el EDF comenzó oficialmente sus actividades en marzo del 1996, con las elecciones de los órganos de gestión en la Asamblea general fundadora y la creación de su Secretariado basado en Bruselas.

Desde esa fecha, el EDF defiende los intereses de las personas con discapacidad ante la Union Europea y trabaja en estrecha cooperación con sus instituciones. Su misión consiste en promover la igualdad de oportunidades de las personas con discapacidad, asi como garantizar y proteger sus derechos humanos. Su lema: "Nada sobre las personas con discapacidad, sin las personas con discapacidad".