The UfM and ONCE organised a Conference on Disability and Social Inclusion in the Euro-Mediterranean Region
This 1st Conference on Disability and Social Inclusion in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, hosted in partnership between the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Spanish ONCE Social Group, took place in Barcelona seeking to analyse three key challenges in the post-COVID era: the limitations that persons of disabilities face to access human rights and employment, the importance of a gender perspective in agendas and recovery programmes and the role of accessible tourism.
The event brought together representatives of regional, national and international organisations of People with disabilities (OPD) plus the representative of the League of Arab States and the Spanish Agency for International cooperation on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, highlighted “the pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and barriers to the socio-economic inclusion for people with disabilities. Specific measures in national and local recovery plans should be adopted in order to ensure addressing negative consequences of the pandemic on persons with disabilities”
ONCE’s Director of International Relationships of ONCE, Javier Güemes Pedraza, underlined that «we are not starting now, there has been a lot of work coming from civil society, but we should reinforce the cooperation and structuralisation of the dialogue between civil society and governments in the region. Therefore, it is now time to have an structural support for international organisations such as the UpM to develop an agenda on disability in the region».
In her online participation, the European Union Commissioner, Helena Dalli stressed how “placing the rights of persons with disabilities high on the agenda at today’s conference and throughout its work program is crucial in order to achieve inclusive development in the Mediterranean region like elsewhere. It is all the more essential the moment when we are working on the response to the Covid-19 Pandemic and recovery. No one should be left behind.”
The different panels provided the audience with insights and data which highlighted both challenges as well as possible solutions when it comes to the social and economic inclusion of persons with disability. Among others, panellists how, compared to men without disabilities, women with disabilities are three times more likely to be illiterate, two times less likely to be employed and three times more likely to have unmet needs for health care.
UfM I Conference on Disability and Social Inclusion in the Mediterranean – Final Report
Source: www. ufmsecretariat.org