Speech by Martin van Rijn, Deputy Minister for Health, Welfare and Sport, at the European Disability Forum (EDF) conference

Toespraak | 12-03-2016

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

I’d like to start by thanking Iederin for inviting me to this conference. Iederin is a Dutch umbrella organisation that recently became a member of the European Disability Forum.

 

In the next 10 minutes I’d like to outline how we’re working towards an inclusive society here in the Netherlands.

 

Our guiding principle is that everyone in the Netherlands has the right to participate fully and equally in society. No one should be excluded.

 

But sadly, it’s often more difficult for people who have a disability to participate in society than it is for people who don’t.

 

Recently a number of young people with disabilities gave me a position paper with the title: We will rise. They told me that their biggest wish is to lead their lives the way they want.

They don’t want to be faced with barriers all the time. They simply want to participate in society like everyone else.

 

So I was delighted when the Dutch House of Representatives passed the bills needed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities at the start of this year.

 

That is an important step towards an inclusive society.

 

It’s exactly nine years since the Netherlands signed the Convention.

So you may be wondering why it takes so long for us to ratify it.

 

The main and positive reason is that, in the Netherlands, we only ratify a convention once all of the laws and rules connected to it are brought in place. Then we can fully comply with it.

 

So the Netherlands isn’t starting from scratch here.

 

A lot of work has been done. And continues to be done.

 

The government’s current policy focuses on empowering people with disabilities to participate in society.

They receive support when they’re looking for work. If necessary, workplaces are adapted.

Many shops, museums and places of entertainment have facilities for people with disabilities. Like the audio induction loop systems found in theatres.

 

So we have a solid foundation to build on, to make society fully inclusive and accessible for people with disabilities.

 

The municipalities play a key role in this process.

 

In 2015 Dutch municipalities were made responsible, by law, for a great many areas affecting the position of disabled persons in society. Including housing, employment, public transport and education.

 

Municipalities are the authorities closest to citizens.

So I expect them to launch and promote initiatives for an inclusive society, thus giving shape to the UN Convention.

 

How they do so is up to the municipalities, of course. But they should consult the people with disabilities. As the motto of the International Day of Disabled Persons states, ‘Nothing about us, without us’.

 

The municipalities are not just responsible for promoting the self-reliance of people with disabilities. Since 2015, they have also been responsible for various support tasks.

 

Again, this is because municipalities are the authorities closest to citizens. Which means they are in the position to organise social care more effectively.

 

The guiding principle is self-management. So people with disabilities can participate in and contribute to society just like everyone else.

 

Municipalities will talk to the people who need care or support in order to come up with appropriate solutions.

 

This dialogue involves looking at the specific needs of the people requesting care. What’s life like for them? What are they asking for? To what purpose?

 

In this way, parties can jointly identify exactly what care is needed, so that tailored services can be provided. The municipalities have the instruments they need to accomplish this.

 

But an inclusive policy doesn’t just concern government bodies.

 

We all have a responsibility to ensure that everyone can participate in society as fully and equally as possible.

That isn’t something you can impose from the top down. It’s a process of awareness-raising that needs to come from the bottom up.

 

Part of the implementation process of the VN convention is an inclusiveness platform is being launched to encourage this process.

The platform is a network of people with disabilities, their client organisations, employer organisations, municipalities and other relevant parties.

 

Together they will support initiatives and projects aimed at creating an inclusive society.

A good example is the ramps that are issued to shops in Amsterdam free of charge. These ramps can be laid over doorsteps to make shops accessible for everyone.

 

They are made of aluminium and weigh almost nothing. They can easily be put in place in the morning and removed in the evening. The city of Amsterdam subsidises the full cost of these ramps.

 

The inclusiveness platform could encourage other municipalities to adopt the Amsterdam initiative. It would be a simple, cost-effective way to make shops all over the Netherlands accessible to everyone.

 

It would literally remove barriers for people with disabilities.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to end on the following note.

 

The Netherlands has a population of seventeen million people.

Two million of whom have a disability.

 

Our society needs to be structured so that all disabled persons can live the way they want. As independently as possible.

We need to remove the barriers that make it difficult to participate in society.

 

As someone with a disability once said to me, ‘Organising my life takes up a great deal of my time. Making sure I get the care I need, making arrangements so I can go to school, or even just getting into a building.’

 

That’s why it’s so important for us to comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

 

The Netherlands has already made a lot of progress towards becoming an inclusive society. But we’re not quite there yet.

 

There is room for improvement in a number of areas.

Ratifying the Convention will encourage people to start work on these improvements.

 

But above all, we need to listen closely to the people concerned. So they can lead their lives the way they want.

Nothing about us, without us.

 

Thank you.