Around 200 participants gathered in Athens, Greece on the 25th and 26th June for our General Assembly 2022.
The General Assembly included keynotes speeches by:
- Helena Dalli, EU Commissioner for Equality;
- Dimitrios Papadimoulis,Vice-President of the European Parliament;
- Eva Kaili, Vice-President of the European Parliament;
- Katarina Ivankovic-Knezevic, Director at the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission;
- Giorgos Gerapetritis, Minister of State;
- George Stamatis Secretary General for Social Solidarity and Fight Against Poverty;
- Pietro Barbieri, President of the EESC Disability Rights Group;
- Vladimir Cuk, Executive Director of the International Disability Alliance (IDA)
- Nawaf Kabbara, President of the Arab Organisation of Persons with Disabilities.
During the General Assembly, we elected our governing bodies for the period 2022-2026. Meet our new Executive Committee, Board and Committees.
The main outcomes of this meeting include:
- Adopted a Declaration on the rights of women and girls with disabilities. This declaration paves the way for a third Manifesto in 2023.
- Adopted our Green Policy, which will create a more sustainable, environmentally responsible disability movement. We commit to study the impact of climate change on persons with disabilities. We will increase our advocacy on “green policies”, such as the EU Green Deal
- Revised our Statutes.
- Decided that we will host a European Parliament of Persons with Disabilities in spring 2023. The theme will be” Building an inclusive future for persons with disabilities in the EU”.
- Adopted our report for 2021 and our activities for 2023.
- Adopted a resolution on peace.
- Updated participants on our work supporting persons with disabilities affected by the war in Ukraine.
- Updated participants on our work in several policy files. Some examples: Directive combating gender-based violence (check our petition to end forced sterilisations); reform of the EU electoral law; the EU Disability Strategy; and review of the EU by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- Presented the highlights of the work of the Women’s Committee and Youth Committee. We also adopted new terms of reference for both.
We also held a gala dinner to celebrate our 25 years. It was an opportunity to celebrate the advances of the disability movement!
Photos of the #EDFAssembly
