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Looking back on the "Access for All" exhibition at the European Parliament
At the "Access for All" photo exhibition in December 2008 European Parliamentarians and the European Disability Forum joined with CBM calling for strong European action to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities worldwide. The need was emphasised to renew commitment to the MDGs for disabled people. The photos exhibited illustrate CBM's work in fostering political empowerment and access to health, education, livelihood support and social inclusion in some of the most disadvantaged communities in low income countries.
Hosting the exhibition was Gay Mitchell, Irish Member of European Parliament (MEP) who is used to campaigning for increased focus on development aid and poverty reduction at the European level. He described his pursuit of a strong development cooperation programme for the EU, and pointed out that in these days when "billions of Euro can be found for bankers at the drop of a hat", he has had to struggle for one billion Euro to come to the aid of farmers in developing countries whose families lives and livelihoods hang in the balance due to the food crisis. Mitchell went on to say that there was "a need to keep renewing our commitment to poverty reduction and the MDGs", and that "nowhere is the need felt more strongly than by people with disabilities in the developing world."
Speakers at the opening of the exhibition addressed the question: What can the European Union do about the exclusion of persons with disabilities from development cooperation? John Bowis MEP, campaigner for the inclusion of disability across all areas of EC policy, drew inspiration from the photo exhibition, saying: "We are not asking for people to feel sorry for people with disabilities; we see pride and dignity in the faces of people in the exhibition here today, and it is this pride and dignity that we need to respond to. Disability is not inability- inability is cased by the barriers we as a society put in place". Bowis was struck also by the photos which highlighted the way disability impacts families, and in particular its effect on children in developing countries. He reflected on how "a child's right to play, to be naughty, to mix with other children, to have a career themselves eventually", was all taken away when they either had a disability themselves, or were needed at home to care for a family member because of poverty and inadequate support.
Richard Howitt, Chair of the Parliament's Disability Intergroup pointed out that "the real difference worldwide caused by the UN CRPD will be in the developing world". He stated his commitment to ensuring that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be fully implemented both in internal and external EC policies. He believes the EC has a distinct role in promoting disability rights worldwide: "Where people with disabilities do not get access to relief and protection in emergencies, or where children with disabilities are hidden away at home and denied access to education because of stigma, we must work with those countries."
Carlotta Besozzi, Director of the European Disability Forum (EDF), pointed out the need to ensure a strong disability movement: ''One of the key components in making this difference on people’s lives in the developing world will be the strengthening of the disability movement, especially in Africa.''
"Warm words are fine, but now we need to see action", was the call from Liz Lynne, MEP and long term activist on disability issues. Liz Lynne allowed for some positive reflection on where the EU had come till now on disability rights, but concluded that we still have a long way to go.
Tanja Kern, CBM's Regional Director for the Middle East, closed by reflecting on CBM's work over the past 100 years. "While much has been achieved in working with partners in over 100 countries, huge challenges still face people with disabilities, who are denied access to basic services and left out of the development agenda- of all the children currently excluded from education, one third are children with disabilities. We cannot hope to achieve the Millennium Development Goals without including people with disabilities."
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