EYE2023 (European Youth Event) took place in the beautiful city of Strasbourg on June 9th and 10th 2023. I was a part of a small group from Slovakia, which was representing the Slovak Disability Council (NROZP) within the European Disability Forum’s (EDF) project Ascend.
Blog post written by Michal Homola – Collection Analyst, Amazon Slovakia.
A bumpy start
In general, we can definitely say that these were really intensive and eventful two days in an inspiring and friendly atmosphere of the European youth community. The programme was full of various workshops, discussions and other activities, taking place in both the lively EYE village and the magnificent building of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This was a pretty interesting combination, but I must admit here that for most of the participants, the moving between these two places wasn‘t really smooth, and the necessary security checks and long queues in front of the Parliament building could have been for some of them maybe a little bit frustrating. For the disabled participants though, the organizers were always ready to help them to avoid these long waiting queues. And overall, the participating volunteers were all the time willing to help and ready to assist us when needed. Huge thanks for that!
Activities, workshops and discussions
Regarding the activities, there was a great variation from which we could choose. Personally, I attended several interesting workshops and discussions. Most of them were focused on the current situation in the EU and in the world. For example an inspiring discussion about the role of the EU as a global player on the international scene, where two experts and a moderator were analyzing the latest trends in the EU foreign policy and answering a lot of diverse and maybe sometimes also provoking questions from the young audience. Or another stimulating session about the importance of multilingualism in the European Union and how the translation and interpreting services within the EU institutions work.
Working in Europe – accessible for all?
For me, what was definitely the most interesting and also personally important was the session organized by the EDF‚ Working in Europe – accessible for all? This was an inspiring discussion about the opportunities and obstacles in the employment of persons with disabilities within the EU, but also about the support of various organizations, especially the EDF. I also got a chance to contribute with my personal story here, as one of the disabled persons who were lucky enough and were able to find a suitable job in the open labour market.
Something very significant was also the participation and contribution of a member of the European Parliament and chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Dragoș Pîslaru, who presented us with various initiatives which could make the position of disabled persons on the EU labour market better for the future. The fact, that not only this but also many other sessions within the EYE2023 offered also a sign language interpretation and remote human live captioning, just underlined the overall good accessibility of this huge international event for participants with various sorts of disability. This is definitely very motivating and inspiring for all of us.
Do you have a question for Michal?
You can contact him:
- by email at michal.homola55@gmail.com
- by phone (upon request)
About the Ascend project
The Ascend project is funded by Citi Foundation and coordinated by the European Disability Forum. This one-year programme is focussed on strengthening the capacity of the disability movement in Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.