Promising practices on awareness raising on abilities of persons with disabilities

Signe Maria Christensen, Deputy Head of Department, Office for People with Disabilities, the Ministry for Children and Social Affairs.

[Short introduction]

I’m Signe Maria Christensen, and I’m the Deputy Head of Department at the Office for People with Disabilities in the Danish Ministry for Children and Social Affairs.

In the Ministry for Children and Social Affairs we work to provide changes which benefit the disadvantaged citizens in our society. Our ministry has the overall responsibility for coordinating policies regarding persons with disabilities.

In Denmark the responsibility to ensure and implement the rights of people with disabilities rests on the principle of sector accountability, meaning that all public authorities are obliged to consider disability policy aspects as well as the rights of persons with disabilities when developing policies within their own scopes of responsibility. Hence all public authorities including the Ministry for Children and Social Affairs share the responsibility to develop policies benefitting people with disabilities within all aspects of society.

[Awareness raising and priorities of the Strategy]

An important part and an underlying current of policies benefitting people with disabilities as well as of the development of these policies are knowledge and awareness of the abilities and rights of persons with disabilities.

We are hence very pleased that one of the five priority areas identified in the Strategy which we are launching today is awareness raising. I would, however, firstly like to stress, that Denmark considers each of the five priority areas as key points in our current and future work on ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities. The strategy and the aims identified in the strategy are important in their own right, but I sincerely believe that they will also serve as a tool in the continued implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In this regard I am proud to announce that the Danish Government has recently decided to introduce a legal ban on discrimination on the ground of disability.

[Initiatives in Denmark]

A legal ban on discrimination is an important step. But it is only a step. We need to ensure that it is not the only step - and that it doesn't become a purely legislative step - a ban written in our laws with no impact on the real world and the real rights of persons with disabilities. One of the tools to ensure real progress is awareness raising.

Being a part of the labour market - having a job - is an important element of our lives in today's Europe. This applies to persons with and without disabilities. The Danish Government hence aims at providing support to improve the possibilities to get an education and a job for persons with disabilities, while at the same time providing adequate protection and support to those who due to their disability are not able to work. We know that one of the highest barriers to obtain a foothold on the labour market for persons with disabilities is a lack of knowledge.

In Denmark we have therefore launched several initiatives with the aim of raising awareness about the abilities of persons with disabilities. This includes initiatives through which companies, organisations and public authorities including municipalities cooperate. Through such initiatives focus is placed on the ability of the individual person rather than on the disability.

The initiatives pave the way for allowing people with disabilities to be included in communities - in a workplace and in society in general - while simultaneously breaking down prejudice and raising awareness about their abilities.

I believe that initiatives such as these can play a crucial part in implementing and realizing the Disability Strategy, which we are launching today. Awareness raising is an important avenue to lessen prejudice and negative attitudes and thereby improve living conditions and possibilities for people with disabilities. And not least ensure that our societies benefit from the abilities and resources of persons with disabilities.

In our quest to reach the objectives of the Strategy I believe it is of importantance to include and be aware of the possibilities which companies as well as NGOs provide. Some of the initiatives which we have launched in Denmark to improve the inclusion and enhance the employment opportunities for persons with disabilities are initiated by companies while some are based on the Strategy on Attitudes and Disability, which is developed by the Danish Disability Council.

[The Danish Disability Council]

The Danish Disability Council is a Government-funded body. The Council’s task is to monitor the situation of people with disabilities in society in view of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Council acts as an advisory body to Government and Parliament on issues related to disability policy. Furthermore, the Council suggest initiatives and propose changes in areas affecting the lives of people with disabilities and their living conditions. What is of utmost importance is that the Council consists of representatives of a wide array of stakeholders including NGOs, organisations of persons with disabilities, public authorities and organisations, unions and employers' organisations.

[Strategy on Attitudes and Disability]

In 2014, more than 200.000 euros were allocated to the development of a multiannual strategy to promote a positive change of attitude in society and improve the foundation for an equal meeting between people with and without disabilities in all spheres of society. The Danish Disability Council was entrusted with the task of developing the strategy, as the Council is made up of representatives with knowledge from multiple sectors and includes organisations of persons with disability.

In January 2016, the Danish Disability Council published the “Strategy on Attitudes and Disability”. The strategy is based on the vision that meetings between people with and without disabilities are natural and equal. This is possible, if prejudice, negative attitudes and uncertainties don't interfere with the relation.

The strategy contains initiatives and puts forward recommendations on how to reduce prejudice and enhance awareness of the abilities of people with disabilities. The initiatives and recommendations aim at influencing the attitudes of the following target groups: children and young people, companies, civil society organisations, public authorities and people with disabilities themselves. Currently, the Danish Disability Council cooperates with relevant actors such as companies, organisations and public authorities in order to implement the initiatives and recommendations of the strategy.

[Influencing attitudes of children]

The strategy takes as its starting point that attitudes are founded early in life. So if we want to live in a society based on tolerance and mutual respect, we have to teach our children these values. The strategy therefore contains an initiative which aims at ensuring that all children become acquainted with the theme of disability during primary school and enables school teachers to help children appreciate tolerance and respect for all people – also people with disabilities.

[Inclusive companies]

Another crucial aim of the strategy is to help companies become more open to employing people with disabilities to the benefit of both the company and the person with disability.  To this end, the Danish Disability Council at present is in dialogue with local actors such as disability councils and workers’ unions to support their efforts in the local community to create a more inclusive labour market.

[Empowerment of people with disabilities]

Finally I would like to highlight the ambition of the strategy to help empower people with disabilities themselves. The knowledge and experience gained in various projects are currently being gathered with a view to initiate pilot projects on a larger scale in selected municipalities. A scientific method will be applied to evaluate the projects on different parameters to ensure that future efforts become knowledge based and effective.

I look forward to seeing the effects of the Danish Strategy on Attitudes and Disability as well as of the Council of Europe strategy which we are launching today. I hope we will be able to continue to inspire each other  and together move the rights of persons with disabilities forward during the upcoming Danish Presidency of Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Although we represent countries that differ in many respects, we face many of the same challenges and opportunities.