European Disability Strategy – Building a Barrier Free Europe for All
The European Commission has published the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, which aims to reduce the obstacles people with disabilities face when wishing to participate in society. As the population in all European countries is ageing, an increasingly large proportion of citizens will suffer some form of restriction. Implementing this strategy can thus benefit the quality of life of a growing segment of urban and regional society.
Description
Economic and social participation of people with disabilities is
considered essential if the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy is to succeed
in creating smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Within cities,
there are several measures that need to be taken to ensure
inclusion of disabled persons.
For instance, in the field of accessibility, major
barriers still exist. Accessibility is defined as meaning that
people with disabilities have access, on an equal basis with
others, to the physical environment, transportation, information
and communications technologies and systems, and other facilities
and services. Accessibility of the built environment and to
transport, both in terms of physical and financial access, are
important within an urban environment. Governments should also take
care to render their information accessible to persons with
disabilities, for instance through website with adaptable font
sizes.
Citizens also have the right to free movement, to choose where and
how to live, and to have full access to cultural, recreational, and
sports activities. Still, participation in these
senses is impeded through many practical problems. Education and
training participation rates are considerably lower among disabled
people. Inclusive education could also help to overcome attitudinal
barriers to the social integration of disabled people. This in its
turn could improve the employment rates, as EU growth targets
demand more people with disabilities to have a paid
employment in the open labour market – and lower
it would lower poverty rates among the disabled.
Lower participation in general education and in the labour market
lead to income inequalities and poverty for people with
disabilities, as well as to social exclusion and isolation. For
this reason, disabled persons should be able to benefit from
social protection programmes.
On these and several other topics, such as health care, cities can
do a lot to help to improve the quality of life of many people: for
instance through a ‘design for all’ approach to the physical
environment, but also to products and government services.
Publication Date
November 2010
Document Type
Policy Document
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