The shadow of the world economic crisis impends
threateningly on the already grim existence of persons with disabilities
in Europe. Protective measures and efficient incentives are needed to
prevent that those who are last to be employed be the first to be
dismissed.
Prophet of doom? Certainly not. To see and understand the
reality in which we live, we have always been used, as said a very special
friend of mine now deceased, to "open our eyes wide even if we don't see,
to prick up our ears even if we don't hear, to keep our feet firm on the
ground even if we are sitting in a wheelchair, and to keep our ideas clear
even if we need more time to work them out." We experience discrimination,
marginalization, exclusion, unfair opportunities, obvious inequalities
with others, the weight of prejudice and misunderstanding about the
quality of our work and our abilities. Normality for us is the exception;
to be considered is a problem for us as well as for others. We are
therefore always at risk to live a life that is not like that of the
others, in good or in bad, obligated to pay a higher price in order to
have the same things the others have.
When society is not perturbed by
dramatic events and people's life goes along relatively peacefully,
persons with disabilities can experience situations of relative
integration or social integration, decreasing discrimination instilling
appropriate behaviour, putting forth positive actions, providing
compensating resources and offering incentive to stimulate good practices.
But when society is experiencing times of crisis, persons with
disabilities are among the first to be affected negatively. It is not only
a question of war or natural catastrophe, economical and political crisis
periodically hit human societies.
In recent years, the free trade
revolution has gradually transformed the economy and politics to a point
where these are out of control because of an insane unsteadiness stirred
up by wizard apprentices without scruples.
The wisest and most
critical among us had for some time felt the danger implied by the
liberalistic model, but no one had anticipated the economic world crisis
that we are experiencing at the present time. The prudent or non
committal declarations of politicians are not hiding the gravity of the
moment. The European Disability Forum could certainly not ignore or
underestimate the phenomenon, also because it now conditions noticeably
the social policies of all countries and consequently those of the
European Union. The growing and significant hesitations on the part of the
European Commission towards adopting a more decisive position regarding
standards against non-discrimination and in favour of accessibility and
universal access for all,
the diminishing availability of the European Parliament in
protecting the rights of citizens in regards to powerful economic
interests, and the increasing opposition of state members concerning
social measures are worrying symptoms of a reversal in the tendency in
comparison to positions taken in the past. The period where we were
participants in the Madrid Declaration, in the European Year of Persons
with Disabilities, in the Ten-Year Action Plan on Disability, in the Riga
Declaration which culminated with the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities seems to come to an end with what
seems a resigned inability to put words into action.
This is why the
European Disability Forum has felt the necessity to launch a strong
political message to denounce the impending danger and to give a voice to
those who are most vulnerable. In the document approved at the meeting
last November, the European Disability Forum takes position on the impacts
the actual economic crisis could have on persons with disabilities. The
Forum is asking the Council, the Commission and the Parliament of the
European Union and every European institution, as well as the governments
of the state members to guarantee that persons with disabilities and their
families do not pay the price of this world economic crisis by seeing a
reduction of their income and their compensation benefits, a reduction of
work opportunities and a cut in organization funding.
The document
asserts that the actual crisis was caused by irresponsible financial
operations and thoughtless negligence on the part of those responsible in
financial institutions and in control organizations in the world. The
governments' response to the credit squeeze was to make available to
financial institutions enormous financial resources to avoid their
instability, but this was not enough and the generalized lack of trust
keeps feeding the economic crisis of the whole system with devastating
effects for people in conditions of poverty, seniors and persons with
disabilities and their families. The document states that
[translation] "We, who even before the crisis, were experiencing a precarious economic situation are asking for an approach aimed at stimulating the economy, increasing investments in accessible infrastructures, compensatory indemnities and tax reductions in order to allow these groups of citizens to acquire goods and services and to improve their economic situation. With the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the urgent necessity to extend judicial guaranties also to these people was universally recognized. Society cannot afford to fail in its obligations towards the protection of all human rights among which the right to work and the respect of family life."
Traditionally, persons with disabilities
are considered as a backup workforce, the last people to be hired,
and the first ones to lose their jobs, considered only as a
cost during an economic crisis.
Persons with disabilities and
their families, the unemployed and those living in poverty, asserted the
Forum, cannot be the scapegoat of a crisis over which they have no
responsability. In some countries, like Ireland, Hungary, Sweden and
Italy, the worsening of the economic situation is already creating
attempts to reducing social benefits.
"The lesson we must learn from
this crisis is that the value of the investment in human resources is much
more important than speculative investments and is to the advantage of the
whole society, reinforcing its capacity in reacting to changes brought
upon by the crisis.
If the gap between people in a difficult situation
and those who are well-off is deepened, the costs to society will last
even longer." The European Disability Forum wants that equality and equal
rights for persons with disabilities be the priority in the policy agenda
of the European elections.
The policy of massive cuts and unemployment
undermines the trust citizens have in European institutions, reviving
appeased particularism and nationalism and risks of developing a fertile
ground for violence and crimes stemming from resentment in regards to
these citizens, denying solidarity and encouraging attitudes that can
endanger democracy.
The Forum is therefore appealing to those who have
the decisional and economic power that they do their utmost to
guaranty that persons with disabilities and those living in poverty be
treated with equality and that they be assured to live in dignity with
appropriate measures.
"Today, the document ends, is the time for
strong actions, so that the European Year for the fight against poverty in
2010 maintain, in all planned actions, its objective of centrality for
people who are most vulnerable, among which persons with disabilities and
their families."