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Community, Not Confinement

First page of PDF with filename: community-not-confinement-20151019.pdf
  • Date
  • October 13, 2015

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) affirms the rights of all people to live in their communities. Yet between 2007 and 2013, EU member states invested millions of euros of EU structural funds into institutions that confine and segregate people living with disabilities.

Now, although the 2014–2020 round of structural funds requires member states to introduce domestic deinstitutionalization measues, the danger remains that EU investments in institutions will continue. The European Commission has a responsibility to ensure the rights of Europeans with disabilities and the proper direction of EU investments. 

Community, Not Confinement examines EU law and policy governing the use of structural funds, and EU and state responsibilities to human rights obligations under international and EU law.

This report also recommends several steps the commission should take, including providing clear guidance to member states that projects selected for the use of structural funds must comply with the CRPD; verifying that such programming aligns with the CRPD and supports independent living; and funding civil society to monitor member states’ investments and inform the commission of findings.

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Voices

Helping Teachers Create More Inclusive Classrooms

Teacher with his palm up in front of a line of students

Although the inclusive education movement has more supporters than ever, turning theory into practice can be the hardest part. A new initiative seeks to help teachers by giving them practical advice.

January 25, 2018 | Ingrid Lewis

Voices

Moving Beyond Institutions and Supporting Independent Living in Europe

People on a train

A new documentary shows how deinstitutionalization has transformed the lives of people with disabilities—and underscores the importance of EU funding for independent living.

June 8, 2017 | Katharine Boaden

Voices

Slowly but Surely, Armenia’s Schools Embrace Students of All Stripes

In the year since the passage of a law that provides a basis for inclusive education, hundreds of schools in Armenia have become more welcoming to marginalized students.

December 17, 2015 | Elaine Harty

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