“Nothing about us, Without us!”

At the end of May, the Council of Europe held a Consultative Meeting on the Inclusion of Young People with Disabilities in the Youth Activities at the European Youth Centre in Budapest (EYCB). In total 24 young people attended, half who had a disability including visual, physical, hearing or mental; and there was a mixture of former participants, youth organisation representatives, trainers and governmental representatives coming from 14 different countries in Europe. Two of the participants at the consultative meeting, were at the OBESSU Study Session “Special Needs: education, participation and social inclusion” which was held at the EYCB in March: Delphine le Maire (EUDY) who was a prep-team member at the OBESSU Study Session, and Raluca Popescu (Ceva de Spus).

The meeting aimed to develop a plan of action to ensure young people with disabilities can participate and be involved actively in all education and training activities of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe and through their participation develop in their role as multiplier for other young people with disabilities. The meeting was successful and produces four recommendations targeting trainers, participation in NFL activities, how the Council of Europe can support youth with disabilities and one addressing the challenges faced by youth with disabilities in general in Europe with recommendations for action.

These draft recommendations were presented to the Committee of Experts on Rights of People with Disabilities in June, who took note of these for its drafting of a ‘Committee of Ministers recommendation on Children and Youth with Disabilities’.

Just as we did during our Study Session, the Consultative meeting adopted the slogan “Nothing about us, without us!”. Check out the two video presentations of the Recommendations: In Non-Formal Education every learner is Unique and Nothing for us, without us!

You can also check out the Facebook page of the Consultative meeting!