Disabled rights not a question of budgetary position

VdK President Ulrike Mascher: National action plan for the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities does not go far enough

04/05/2011

"This is not a big hit," says the President of the Social Association VdK Germany, Ulrike Mascher, on the National Action Plan for the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. "Despite a period of ten years, the present draft only contains a catalog of measures that is limited to short-term actions and projects, and that really seeks forward-looking concepts for inclusion in vain."

In particular, Mascher's criticism is that the planned measures are subject to funding. "It is about the implementation of fundamental rights for people with disabilities - this must not be a question of the budgetary situation," the VdK President stated unequivocally.

The Action Plan, as it stands, contains no legal guarantees. Without corresponding changes in the books of the social code, in the Disability Equality Act and in the other relevant laws, he threatens to waste away to a well-intentioned letter of intent, Mascher continues. For example, in the current bill of the Federal Ministry of Labor on improving the performance of labor market policy instruments, special needs of older people with severe disabilities and severely disabled young people are missing. "The announced austerity measures will lead to significant deterioration in funding opportunities, which contradicts the binding set of ideas for inclusion," warned Mascher. She sees an urgent need for action in the further development of the Ninth Social Code (SGB IX), especially in the areas of rehabilitation and occupational integration management. "These problem areas must be tackled systematically in the course of the Action Plan, which quickly requires bringing German law into line with the goals of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities," the VdK President demanded.

To achieve inclusion, a much closer cooperation between the federal government and the federal states is also needed. This is particularly important in the case of measures aimed at the joint education of children with and without disabilities, which have hitherto been the sole responsibility of the Länder.

Tomorrow's Europe-wide day of protest for the equality of people with disabilities is a good occasion to finally implement the stipulations of the UN Disability Rights Convention in everyday life, in the interest of 8.7 million people with disabilities in Germany, including 7.1 million severely disabled. This also includes the development of accessibility: "As long as disabled people have difficulty getting into offices, doctors' practices, cinemas and theaters or using public transport without hindrance, the goal of equal participation in everyday life is far from being achieved for this large population group", said Mascher. (Michael Pausder)