 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CALD Internship Report |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Observations and Impressions European Union as Peace and Co-operation Building Body It was a great opportunity for me as a citizen of a less developed Asian county to come to Brussels and watch the affairs of the European Parliament. This internship being my first ever experience in Europe, every movement of mine has been a precious piece of experience politically as well as socially. Consisting of divided war-ridden nations 55 years ago, Europe has become a common place where diverse points of view are shared, a continent that has come to a compromise for working together to build peace. The process is ever expanding and hence, the 15 member will be enlarged to 25 in May 2004. Being able to pass through virtual frontiers without showing identity papers, I could practically see how free movement and one single currency policy are in action. Being from Sri Lanka, a country that is hungry for peace, it really gave me the impression that the way to peace is a common platform of discussion: sharing and listening to requirements of the others, formulating policies, legislation and action plans. The European Parliament provides a common platform for 15 different members to send their representatives and make common EU laws. This is to be further developed. Talks about a common European Constitution for the future have been started. A Fairer and equal world for all, irrespective of differences - The European Year of the Disabled - What I saw at the European Parliament of the Disabled. I had the opportunity to observe the November 2003 Brussels session on the theme "European Parliament of the Disabled". A very rare experience to see the empowered disabled (differently abled people) discussing their own problems. Many speakers highlighted the fact: "nothing about the disabled without the disabled" To witness such a session is totally different from how things are run in Sri Lanka. It is fascinating to see how the architecture is designed to avoid discrimination between the "abled" and the "disabled". The hemicyle building, where the session was held, is equipped to enable access for people with disabilities. Similarly, visually impaired and hearing impaired people could understand what was going on in the Parliament. Equal access to information by every human being is shown by example. There is a greater emphasis to go beyond a charity model, towards a human right based model, to empower people with disabilities. There are 50 million disabled only in Europe, and many speakers highlighted the importance of treating their demands equally. A comparison of how disabled persons in Europe act together to bring about legislature and a change in attitudes in governments and by the public is far from conditions in the Third World. Many representatives spoke of the importance of consulting people with disabilities to decide on the destiny of the disabled. The Sri Lankan situation is far way from European realities. Many people with disabilities and their administrators in Sri Lanka still think charity can solve problems. About 15 000 are estimated as disabled from the three Forces and police only due to two decades of war. Sri Lankans, the administrators in particular, will have to focus and work on areas such as empowerment, changing attitudes and providing employment either in the departments or in self-employment means to uplift the standards of people with disabilities. Why a European Year of the Disabled ? The year 2003 is named the "European Year of the Disabled", on a unanimous decision taken by the EU Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs on 3rd December 2001, overlapping with the European day of the Disabled. Overall objectives behind the naming are identified as promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, creating an awareness on the barriers they face in society, and increase the mainstreaming of disability in all EU policies. Specifically creating awareness among the public on the rights of disabled as citizens of an inclusive society, accessibility to education, employment, information, transport, and other areas related. Activities organised focussed on the fact that the general public is not very much aware of disability. Certain stereotypes are perpetuated by the media and certain charity organisations. One such is the understanding of people with disabities as objects of charity. The Madrid declaration "Non-discrimination plus positive action results in social inclusion" sets out a programme to achieve the vision of "What is done in the name of disability today will have meaning for all in the world's tomorrow". The themes of actions are as follows: 1. Legal measures 2. Changing attitudes 3. Services that promote independence living 4. Support to families 5. Special attention to disabled women 6. Mainstreaming of disability 7. Employment as a key for social inclusion 8. Nothing about disabled people without the disabled people The Madrid declaration points out the importance of the participation of the stakeholders to participate actively to fulfil the concrete suggestions of actions set out by the declaration. The stakeholders identified and addressed are 1) EU authorities and national authorities in EU and accession countries; 2) local authorities; 3) disability organisations; 4) employers; 5) trade unions; 6) media; 7) education system; and 8) any other religious, cultural, or social organisations. What Parliament wanted through the European Year of the People with Disabilities (EYPD) The naming of the year, when looked from the overall political point of is aimed at mainstreaming disabled people's rights whereby issuing and implementing a specific disability directive at the national level of each EU country. The Year has been organised with multifaceted events and activities all throughout the EU, to raise awareness about the concerns of disabled persons, ranging from a European March to local events. One such European level event was the European Parliament of the People with Disabilities" which took place on 10th and 11th November in the European Parliament building in Brussels. The European Declaration on Media and Disability was approved in June 2003. Regarding the organisation, the most important achievement of the Year consists of the fact that the organisations working for the disabled managed to build an alliance with all major stakeholders in the field. Results seem satisfactory, although many further activities will still have to be done. From the point of view of the European Parliament, the Year has not been able to meet its potential. Opening the event, ELDR spokeswoman Liz Lynne (Liberal Democrat/UK), Rapporteur for the European Year of the People with Disabilities 2003, highlighted "One outcome of the week I am hoping for is a clear statement in support of a Disability Directive to protect the rights of disabled people across the EU." The disability directive is to be the succeeding step of the EU Council Directive on establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation. The primary goals of the Year, when looked at from the parliamentary point of view, have been to activate the Equality in Employment Directive and to reach a specific Disability Directive to protect the rights of disabled people across Europe. The deadline for the implementation of the Equal Treatment Directive by each member state has been 3 December 2003. This requirement has not been met by a large number of member states; the only ones who implemented the Directive are France, Italy and Portugal. The other countries are either in the draft legislation stage or have asked for a postponement of one more year. Therefore, the disability specific Directive by the EU Parliament has not seen any future progress until now. The council Directive 2001/78/EC of 27 November 2000 has ruled out a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation based on the Article 13 of the European Communities, which stipulates grounds for actions to combat discrimination on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability or age grounds. By this Directive the member states are demanded to fix appropriate measures in their employment provisions to combat discrimination against disabled persons. Once this Directive will be implemented, it can be considered a major achievement of the Year. In a press release, ELDR spokeswoman Liz Lynne said: "The European Year has raised the awareness that disabled people have rights, but is depressingly weak on positive outcomes - at both the UK and European level - which was exactly what I tried to avoid when writing the original report that established it." PERSONAL GAINS FROM MY INTERNSHIP (SUMMARY)
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| << Back | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
