For the first time, European leaders came together for the high level European Regional Disability Summit on international cooperation. The virtual Summit took place on 8th February 2022, under the auspices of the Global Disability Summit.
The Summit discussed how international cooperation in the broader European region, including Eastern European, Western and Central Asian countries can become inclusive of all persons with disabilities. We had a successful event, with 1008 registrations and 637 actual attendees from all parts of the world and in particular Europe, including representatives of the disability movement, civil society, donors, governments, United Nations (UN) agencies and their country teams in the region.
The event welcomed 20 high level speakers and three excellent moderators, covering the European Union, the UN, organisations of persons with disabilities and other important stakeholders. They presented their political commitments towards the Global Disability Summit, explaining how they will make them a reality for all persons with disabilities in the region. The discussions focused on disability inclusive development across health, education, employment, humanitarian situation and civil society strengthening, including on women’s rights.
In particular, speakers talked about the need for targeted, concrete and high commitments for disability inclusive development in the world, and the importance of reaching out and supporting the disability movement in larger Europe, which has been neglected for too long. Speakers also mentioned the obligation to build the capacity of OPDs and fully include them at all levels of policy making, in development cooperation and national policy processes. Speakers emphasised the critical importance to implement and monitor the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ensuring that the rights of persons with disabilities are at the heart of all global action work to build a society where everyone thrives.
In advance of the Summit, the European Disability Forum and the International Disability Alliance organised a series of consultation meetings with organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs/DPOs) from Europe and Central Asia to inform, consult and involve them in the Global Disability Summit. We also encouraged OPDs to advocate for their governments to make commitments.
The results of these consultations, and the recommendations coming out of the discussions at the European Regional Disability Summit on international cooperation are presented in the Outcome Document. The Document proposes a way forward to advance the rights of all persons with disabilities in the broader European region for the coming years. It also puts emphasis on the need for European donors to include persons with disabilities in global international cooperation.
For more information, contact the EDF international cooperation team of: international.cooperation@edf-feph.org
Further documentation
- European Regional Disability Summit – Poster of the programme (PDF document)
- European Regional Disability Summit – Final programme (Word document)
- Biographies speakers (Word Document)
- European Regional Disability Summit – Final programme (Russian – Word document)
- Outcome Document of the Summit (English PDF document)
- Outcome Document of the Summit (Russian PDF version)
- EDF commitments GDS2022 (Word document)
Images of the Summit
