On 13 November 2019, IDDC contributed to the public consultation of the European Commission ‘Reviewing the European disability strategy 2010-2020’.
In a position paper developed by its EU Task Group, IDDC recognises and welcomes the commitments made by the EU, since the adoption of the current European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, which are related to disability-inclusive development and humanitarian action. We underline however that the next European Disability Strategy should strengthen the EU’s current commitments to the disability-inclusive, CRPD-compliant implementation of the 2030 Agenda and 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.
Overview of IDDC recommendations
In general, the new European Disability Strategy 2020-2030 should:
- Cover all provisions of the CRPD, with a budget allocated for its implementation and a well-resourced monitoring mechanism;
- Ensure the Concluding Observations of the CRPD Committee are taken into account in all aspects of the EU’s policies and programmes;
- Be aligned with the 2030 Agenda and SDGs, the Agenda for Humanity, and all frameworks and legal obligations relevant for EU external action;
- Involve all EU institutions, bodies and agencies in the implementation and monitoring of the Strategy;
- Ensure more consultation with relevant stakeholders including civil society;
- Ensure the EU’s commitment to the Rights Based Approach, including when it comes to persons with disabilities.
For the new European Disability Strategy 2020-2030 to reinforce external action as a priority area, IDDC recommends several actions, including:
- Promote the rights of persons with disabilities and disability-inclusion across all EU policies and programmes related to external action and international cooperation, and across all sectors.
- Ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities are addressed in the continued negotiations of the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework and are specifically reflected in the programming.
- Ensure that disability inclusion and accessibility are a consistent requirement in the delivery of all EU aid, including humanitarian aid.
- Implement the OECD DAC Disability Inclusion Marker.
- Undertake a large-scale and independent study to assess the impact of the EU’s external action on disability inclusion.
- Provide clear guidance for a twin-track approach to disability inclusion in the evaluation of all external and internal project proposals.
- Ensure the systematic collection of disaggregated and globally comparable data and use them for evidence-based policy-making.
- Adopt an intersectional analysis of the needs and policy responses.
- Strengthen the technical capacity on disability inclusion across the DEVCO and ECHO units and country desks, the EU External Action Service, and the EU Delegations.
- Update the EU Guidance Note on disability inclusive development cooperation.
- Monitor the implementation of the updated EU Guidance Note on disability inclusive development cooperation.
- Monitor the implementation of the 2019 ECHO Guidance Note on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in EU-funded humanitarian aid operations as well as the new IASC guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.
Read IDDC position paper on the European Disability Strategy 2020-2030