Includ-ed, red europea de educación inclusiva

The European Network on Inclusive Education & Disability, incluD-ed, promoted by Fundación ONCE and co-financed by the European Social Fund through the Operational Programme "Fight Against Discrimination 2007-2013", welcomes the Commissions’ Recommendation on Child Poverty and Well-Being as part of the Social Investment Package.

The Commissions’ Recommendation sets out principles, strategies and support mechanisms to ensure the well-being of children and to fight social exclusion. Even if the recommendation does not explicitly focus on one of the network’s themes, incluD-ed believes that the Commissions’ Recommendation represents an important step towards inclusion, which allows us to comment on it.

incluD-ed welcomes the support for children with disabilities

> incluD-ed believes that the recommendation contains constructive proposals to fight against child poverty and discrimination faced by children with disabilities and in other vulnerable situations.

> incluD-ed shares the Commissions’ opinion that in order to promote child well-being families need to be supported (p.5).

> incluD-ed specifically welcomes the recommendation of direct support for “children who face an increased risk due to multiple disadvantage”, such as children with special needs or disabilities and the demand for the Member States to sustain long-term investment to support these children and their families (p. 4-5).

> incluD-ed fully supports the Commissions’ demand for the Member States to “assess how policy reforms affect the most disadvantaged and take steps to mitigate any adverse effects” (p.5).

> incluD-ed highly welcomes, according to the network’s mission and objectives, the Commissions’ recommendation to improve education systems in order to assure equality of opportunities and an inclusive high quality education. The European network especially appreciates the proposal to create an inclusive learning environment and to provide resources and personalised support if necessary in order “to break the cycle of disadvantage” (p.7).

incluD-ed calls for a concrete action plan

> incluD-ed believes, as the Ad hoc Group on Child Poverty and Well-being appointed by the EC, that the Commission has a key role to play in the implementation of the Recommendation by engaging all levels of government and all stakeholders. Repeatedly, Member States have affirmed their commitment “to adopt a Recommendation on the issue” (p. 3) and now it is important to ensure effective implementation, monitoring and support.

> incluD-ed believes that in addition to the awareness raising effort made throughout the Member States, the Commission must financially support the Recommendation in order to make it viable at national level. To promote the mentioned “EU financial instruments” (p.11), incluD-ed welcomes the idea of the Ad hoc Group on Child Poverty and Well-being to publish “a handbook highlighting the main funding opportunities”.

> incluD-ed believes that children with disabilities and their families will need more effective funding opportunities. As many studies have shown “the economical and financial crisis in Europe especially affects people with disabilities” (incluD-ed 2013, p. 7). Austerity policies in many EU countries affect the area of social policy and too often the allocation of resources in areas aimed at reducing child poverty and social exclusion are cut back. As a report of the European Disability Forum (EDF) shows, this includes for children with disabilities and their families “cuts in disability allowances, (…) massive reassessments of disability status and a reduction in services” (EDF 2011, quoted in inclu-Ded 2013, p. 7). 

> incluD-ed therefore supports the recommendation of the Ad hoc Group on Child Poverty and Well-being to develop a concrete action plan for the implementation, including concrete objectives and milestones to be reached throughout the period until 2020, and to allocate concrete financial resources to reach its objectives, paying special attention to children with disabilities and their families.

> incluD-ed is also convinced that the Commission needs to engage the different governments and stakeholders and give them concrete roles. As we have seen in the functioning of our network, specifically on the issues of disability and inclusive education, national stakeholders are central to the implementation of concrete actions. They will play a key role in the implementation of the recommendation and the Commission must therefore support partnerships at local, regional and national level that are able to engage civil society, social partners and local authorities. Together they can raise awareness, monitor progress and exchange good practices.

> incluD-ed especially emphasises the importance of adequate monitoring. Without adequate reporting, research and analysis, and the sharing of valuable information via peer reviews etc., the pace in fighting child poverty and social inclusion will unnecessarily be decelerated. incluD-ed demands in this respect to complement the Commissions’ “Indicator-based monitoring framework”(p. 13-21) with indicators that provide information about the situation of children with disabilities.

incluD-ed asks for sustainable funding for sustainable solutions

> To conclude, the Commission should consider in all its actions the long-term impacts on child poverty and social exclusion, especially ensuring that children with multiple disadvantages, such as children with disabilities, are not left behind.

> Existing funding opportunities should be promoted, especially funds to combat child poverty and to adjust cuts in support for children with disabilities should be available.

> Partnerships at local, regional and national level need long-term sustainable funding to develop, carry out and establish effective solutions.

The European Network on Inclusive Education & Disability, incluD-ed, will support the Recommendations’ implementation at EU, national and local levels.

Notes to the editors: The European Network on Inclusive Education & Disability, incluD-ed, promoted by Fundación ONCE, is a collaborative and multi-stakeholder initiative whose primary goals are promoting, identifying, disseminating and exchanging good practice on inclusive education for people with disabilities across Europe, in order to promote opportunities for employability and working inclusion. Currently, its member organisations are: Association des Paralysés de France (APF), Fundación ONCE, Kynnys ry and Rytmus. In Local Promoting Groups (LPGs) in European cities, the network comprises local authorities, schools, universities, companies, public services, local associations, experts and other stakeholders  who work together to promote initiatives in the areas of inclusive education and disability.

Documents referred to:

Ad hoc Group on Child Poverty and Well-being (2013): Common Proposals for Implementing the Recommendation on Child Poverty and Well-being through a partnership approach.

EDF (2011): Europe’s way out of the crisis: “We need a new plan to protect persons with disabilities from the crisis”.

European Commission (2013): Commission Recommendation of 20.2.2013. Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage.

incluD-ed (2012): Inclusive Education & Disability. Good Practices from around Europe. URL: http://includ-ed.eu/resource/%E2%80%9Cinclusive-education-disability...