Blog post by Indrė Širvinskaitė (President), Simona Aginskaitė (Advocacy and Communication Projects Manager), and Marija Bočiarovaitė (Project Coordinator) of the Lithuanian Disability Forum.
Lithuania ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010, marking an important step toward strengthening dsability rights advocacy on national level. Over the past fifteen years, disability organisations have evolved—from protest and litigation to becoming recognized partners in policy development. With the active involvement of the Lithuanian Disability Forum, progress has been made in areas such as disability assessment, legal capacity reform, inclusive emergency preparadness, independent living, inclusive education, and employment. Efforts to regulate reasonable accommodation are also underway.
Despite this progress, major challenges remain. Inclusive education is not fully implemented and lacks adequate support services. In practice, legal capacity is still often removed rather than supported. Employment rates remain low, with only 30% of people with disabilities in the workforce—highlighting persistent barriers to equal opportunities.
The risk of poverty is especially alarming. It is twice as high for people with disabilities compared to the general population and continues to grow. Families providing care receive limited support, which restricts their access to employment and affects their mental health and financial security.
These gaps show that, while important reforms have begun, much more is needed to ensure full inclusion and equal rights for people with disabilities in Lithuania.
Significant barriers to Inclusive Education
In 2020, Lithuania amended its Law on Education to give children with disabilities the right to attend their nearest mainstream school. However, implementation has been limited. The number of students in special schools remains largely unchanged, and structural reforms have stalled. A 2024 amendment to the Law on Education has caused concern because of misinterpretation of reasonable accommodation and disproportional or undue burden. There is a risk that inclusive education will not become reality in practice for all children.
A 2020 agreement to improve school accessibility has seen little action. National coordination is weak, and municipalities have made minimal progress. Negative attitudes in society remain widespread—less than half of surveyed adults favour inclusive classrooms. Although the government has initiated campaigns, they had limited impact.
Homeschooling is increasing among children with disabilities, often due to school pressure. In adult higher education, accessibility remains poor both in legislation and practice. Few students with disabilities enroll or graduate, and universities lack both legislative duties and incentives to support them.
Lithuania’s laws support inclusive education in principle. But weak enforcement, social resistance, and limited support continue to block meaningful change.
Incomplete implementation of legal capacity reform for persons with disabilities
Lithuania’s 2016 legal capacity reform aimed to align with Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It promised to replace outdated, blanket incapacitation with tailored support. But the reality has fallen short.
Many people remain under unjust decisions that deny their autonomy – around 10000. Municipality review commissions often fail to review cases or do so only on paper, without real engagement. People are often excluded from hearings on their legal capacity or not informed at all. Decisions rely mainly on psychiatric files, not on the person’s will or current situation.
New supported decision-making tools are being developed, including through EU funds, however, they are not used widely enough yet. In 2024, there was a reform initiated, however, after debates in the Partliament and expressed objections due to a collision with the Constitution (on election rights), legislative reform was suspended. The new Government, elected in late 2024, is planning to renew the initiative on legal reform.
Without real person-centered supported decision-making systems, these reforms can only make a very limited impact. Many people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities are still denied their right to make decisions and live with dignity.
Fragmented implementation of the reasonable accommodation principal
In Lithuania, reasonable accommodation is still inconsistently applied and poorly regulated. Despite a 2016 UN CRPD recommendation to establish denial of reasonable accommodation as a form of discrimination, progress has been limited.
Currently, reasonable accommodation is regulated only in employment law. In areas like education, healthcare, and public services, the concept is rarely used in legislation or practice. The society and lack awareness about the principle and the duty to provide reasonable accommodations and many people with disabilities still face barriers to basic services everyday.
Recent initiatives show some progress. The 2024 disability law names reasonable accommodation as a key principle but lacks detalisation on how and where it should be applied. A 2024 amendment to the Law on education introduced the concept, however, only through the principle of disproportionate or undue burden. The amendments also lack clarity or criteria, risking continued exclusion of children with disabilities.
The President of Lithuania, along with the Lithuanian Disability Forum and the Independent monitoring mechanism of CRPD, has proposed enshrining it to the Equal Opportunities Act, according to UN CRPD recommendations. This initiative is welcomed by the disability movement and is currently under consideration in the Parliament.
Violence, discrimination, and gaps in support systems for women with disabilities
Studies in Lithuania show that many women with disabilities face violence. Over 50% have experienced sexual violence. More than 80% have faced physical violence. A quarter have suffered this abuse I an systemic way. Most do not report it. Support services are often hard to reach or not suited to their needs. Changes are needed to make services accessible and ensure safety.
These women also face discrimination in parenting and reproductive rights. Negative views, especially toward those with intellectual disabilities, are common. Some have faced forced sterilization or lost custody of their children unfairly. Most parenting support overlooking their needs, with support concentrated on families with many social needs. It is also important to mention that Lithuania has not ratified the Istanbul Convention, which weakens protection against gender-based violence.
Barriers to inclusive employment
Lithuania has taken steps to improve jobs for people with disabilities. These include new laws, public sector job quotas, and support services. But the system is still fragmented. It focuses more on helping employers than meeting the needs of people with high support needs.
Many helpful services were created through EU-funded projects. But they were not made permanent. There is also no clear responsibility for adapting workplaces or providing ongoing support.
Carers of adults with disabilities face problems too. They don’t have basic rights like sick leave. Also, the law doesn’t clearly regulate reasonable adjustments at work. This means many people with disabilities still lack the support they need to work.
Persistent gaps in community-based support for persons with disabilities
Despite legal changes, families of people with disabilities still provide most of the care. A 2020 survey showed caregivers spend about 13 hours a day on support, often leaving work, facing stress and financial hardship.
The personal assistance system, launched in 2021, is welcomed by the community. However in 2024, insufficient funding became apparent. Many people had their personal assisstant support discontinued which caused widespread outrage in the commmunity. Some changes were made so that the support would not be discontinued abruptly in the future. Hovwever, the insufficient funding remains a problem, along with some issues in regulation of rules and functions, which are being tackled in consultation with OPDs.
Lithuania’s move away from institutions also falls short. Most group homes still feel institutional and limit choice. Better housing models, like sheltered housing, are rare—especially for those who require more intensive support.
Over 5,000 people remain in institutions. Families and NGOs are calling for real community-based housing that respects dignity, independence, and inclusion.
Excluding the most vulnerable in emergency situations
Russia’s war in Ukraine brought new attention to the requirements of people with disabilities in emergencies. Response plans have been reviewed with this in mind. But Lithuania’s emergency system still largely excludes people with disabilities. Despite some reforms and training, many remain uninformed and unsupported in crises. Accessible shelters, information and proper help are often missing. Accessible preparedness training for people with disabilities is lacking, and data collection by municipalities remains insufficient.
Cooperation between municipalities and disability organizations remains weak, leaving local communities unprepared and isolated. Some emergency workers have had one-time training, but it’s inconsistent and limited. The Lithuanian Disability Forum urges action – ongoing, well-funded training for responders, accessible evacuations, adapted shelters, and full participation by people with disabilities in all emergency decisions.
More about the Lithuanian Disability Forum
Lithuanian Disability Forum (LDF) is the largest Lithuanian organization representing the interests of various disability groups. LDF unites 18 organizations which represent a combined 300,000 persons with disabilities.
Lear more about the Lithuanian Disability Forum