EDF Board meeting: Ukraine; Cost of Living; EU Accession

22.11.2022

Andre Felix

The first meeting of our new Board took place on the 18 and 19 November in Dublin, Ireland. The meeting started with the conference “From signing the Disability Rights Convention to achieving equality before the law”, jointly organised with the Disability Federation of Ireland, where experts discussed how equality before the Law is advancing in Europe and where the barriers are.

Outcomes

During the meeting, the Board:

Agreed to welcome two new members: League of the Strong from Ukraine, and MEGD (Faroese Disability Organisations);
Shared their memories of Rodolfo Cattani, a longstanding EDF Executive Committee member and of German disability activist and former MP Ilja Seifert.
Adopted a resolution calling on the EU and national governments to urgently put in place measures to lessen the impact of the cost of living crisis on persons with disabilities.
Received an update on our work regarding persons with disabilities affected by the war in Ukraine.
Committed to assist organisations of persons with disabilities in candidate countries to the EU (including the new candidate countries Ukraine and Moldova).
Adopted its Code of Conduct committing EDF’s elected representatives to high standards of ethical behaviour.
Announced the new Youth committee and Women’s Committee.
Exchanged information about the organisation of the 5^th European Parliament of Persons with Disabilities taking place in May 2023.
Learned about EDF’s achievements in 2022, including the inclusion of EDF’s demands on proposals on ending gender-based violence, EU electoral law, minimum wage and the AccessibleEU Centre.
Co-opted two new Board members: Rui Coimbras, representing the Cerebral Palsy – European Communities Association, and Hakan Thomsson, representing the European Blind Union.

Our committees (Human Rights and Non-Discrimination, and Social Policy and Inclusion), with new members due to the elections, also met:

Members of the Human Rights Committee exchanged information on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. They agreed on the concept note for the next Human Rights Report on legal capacity.
The Social Policy Committee met for the first time and gave input to EDF’s soon-to-be-released Human Rights Report on the right to work. The Committee also decided on EDF’s input for the European Commission consultation on the EU Year of Skills 2023. It also explored the significance of the new CRPD General Comment 8 on Work and Employment, and the CRPD Committee’s new guidelines on de-institutionalisation.

The board meeting is one of the events happening during our 25th anniversary. To mark the occasion, we have been publishing a new podcast throughout the year.

We thank the Government of Ireland and the Disability Federation of Ireland for their support in organising this conference.