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IDDC input for the European Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030 consultation

On 12 November 2020, IDDC participated in the European Commission’s roadmap consultation on the EU Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030 and focused its recommendations on EU external action, international cooperation and humanitarian action.

The EU and all EU Member States are Parties to the CRPD and have an obligation “to adopt all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the CRPD” (CRPD Art. 4), including in relation to Art. 11 (Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies) and Art. 32 (International cooperation). It is essential that the EU Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030 strengthens the EU’s current commitments to the disability-inclusive, CRPD-compliant implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Agenda for Humanity as well as other key human rights, development and humanitarian frameworks, and ensures coherence across all the EU’s policies and programmes related to external action, international cooperation and humanitarian action.

IDDC recommends for the new EU Disability Rights Strategy to reinforce external action as a priority area, included to:

  • Promote the rights of persons with disabilities and disability-inclusion across all EU policies and programmes related to external action and across all sectors. Revisions of existing policies and action plans must take into account the EU’s CRPD obligations and should be aligned to the disability-inclusive implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs as well as with Agenda for Humanity commitments.
  • Ensure the rights of persons with disabilities are addressed in the new Multi-Annual Financial Framework, and are specifically reflected in the programming of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI). DPOs, both in Europe and in partner countries, must be meaningfully involved and engaged during the programming of the NDICI but also in its implementation and monitoring.
  • Ensure the Team Europe global response to COVID-19, and all future Team Europe initiatives and joint programming and implementation, leaves no one behind. Disability inclusion is critical to address all forms of inequality, and to truly build back better Team Europe must follow a human rights-based approach and be intersectional.
  • Strengthen the technical capacity on disability inclusion, intersectionality and CRPD implementation across all DEVCO and ECHO units and country desks, the EEAS, and the EUDs. Disability focal points should be clearly identified and trained.
  • Introduce a mechanism to strengthen coordination between the relevant European Commission DGs and the different EU institutions involved in the EU’s external action. Consolidate a network of disability focal points across the EU institutions and the EUDs.
  • Ensure the systematic collection of disaggregated and globally comparable data and use them for evidence-based policy-making. Data should be disaggregated by at least gender, age and disability. Use and promote the Washington Group Questions for data disaggregation for disability.
  • Implement the OECD DAC Disability Inclusion Policy Marker to track development finance in support of disability inclusion (across all relevant DGs), and encourage EU Member States to adopt and implement the disability inclusion marker.
  • Create and implement an External Action Disability Action Plan. This should include sector specific policy work with examples of good practice on education and life-long learning, health, employment and livelihood, accessibility, humanitarian response, disaster risk reduction and other key topics linked to international cooperation and humanitarian action.