Dialogue with Kalle Könkkölä, Executive Director of Kynnys (3/3)
Fri, 04/07/2014
KALLE KÖNKKÖLA AND THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES (UNCRPD)
What is the Finnish situation in regards to the ratification of the UNCRPD?
Kalle Könkkölä: In Finland about 10-15% of people have disabilities, of whom 1-2% have severe disabilities. The Finnish government is in the process of ratifying UNCRPD. They are slow about it since all laws and regulations must be ok before they do it, but they are very serious. Often countries ratify it, but don’t rapidly change their legislation.
The current key issues in Finland are human rights, living independently and personal assistance. Since 2009 poeple with disabilities have the legal right to have a personal assistant, paid for by the municipality. Before there were only 5000 personal assistants, but now over 14.000 personal assistants are employed. Personal assistants are a great deal more effective and also cheaper than insititutions. They only cost about half of what home-help services cost. Even more can be saved because people with disabilities who have an assistant can use public transport, reducing the need for other forms of transportation. Hiring assistants also creates jobs, so on the whole it is impossible to understand the authorities' former reluctance to use them.
Article 12 of the UNCRPD on Legal Capacity of Disabled People is also already respected in Finland, but regarding independence some improvements still have to be made. Voting rights are ok, no medical statement is needed. We also have support systems to employ people with disabilities, including a salary support and the possibility to adapt work places, but they are not really used.
Life for people with disabilities has changed completely in the past 40 years. They do not live in institutions any more or receive care from their family members, but this progress might be threatened if social services are cut. Parents that were overprotective before and themselves supported institutions have now also changed their minds.
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KALLE KÖNKKÖLA, HIS LIFE LESSONS LEARNT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES FOR PWD
You have achieved, done and tried so many things in your life. Which accomplishment are you most proud of?
Kalle Könkkölä: There are two things I like very much, they are like my babies. First is the Threshold Organisation, because it has had so much influence. It's a small organisation, with 1500 members in Finland, and compared to others that are much richer and have more members we have been very influential. We have been the leaders in bringing about change.
I think in the end, the major problem we are facing is that we're not accepted as full citizens in our own society. We are isolated, discriminated against and also quite often humiliated. I'm very optimistic that the more we are involved in our communities the more we will be accepted, but first we have to accept ourselves, and not be ashamed. I remember when I was ashamed of my disability, and I'm sure that many other people who were born with a disability have had the same experience, feeling that "it's terrible, I'm disabled, what's wrong with me". But there's nothing wrong with me! OK, something is wrong, but it's not the disability, it's some other weakness we have, like all human beings. But in the end we can live together. The only way to live together is to live together. That's why it's so important to be against all kinds of institutions, all kinds of special arrangements, special education, segregation etc. And as people with disabilities we must also learn to live in an environment which is not ready yet. We can’t wait, no change will happen if we're just waiting for the world to become perfect.
What has your experience been with disability beyond FInland? Do you have any international aims?
Kalle Könkkölä: My travel to the US was very eye-opening. It was very good to see that we were travelling and doing the same things that others do, that we were right. It was very empowering and important for our movement. We realised that we need to organise so that young people in our movement can visit other countries, maybe organise a systematic exchange programme so they can stay in different centres and work there for two or three or four months and live together, learn, get inspiration. That is something we have really neglected, something we have not done enough of.
Our other international aim is to widen our activities in developing countries, like Zambia for instance. We realise that the problems are quite similar, except for poverty, which is a difference. But we are all fighting for a place in our societies. Are we part of society or are we not? That is a basic struggle for Threshold. About one third of our activities and annual budget are dedicated to cooperation with developing countries. It is really important also to show people in other countries what we are doing, share our experience and listen to their experience, compare and give encouragement. People with disabilities in developing countries feel so isolated. They feel that they are isolated in their own country because their own governments do not care about them. Their own societies do not care about them. When they see that there are some friends who do care it is really empowering. It is also a duty for those of us who are living in rich countries to get our governments to finance this. That is absolutely what we have to do more of in the future. I really challenge everyone involved in the independent living movement to go to south.
I have to say that the global situation is really complicated and difficult. The best time I had internationally was when I was chairing a small task force in the World Bank, trying to push them and other international bodies to include disability. The resistance is very strong. There are some nice people who want to do good things but the general atmosphere is that disability is a difficult issue. It’s changing a little, but it has been very difficult to get them to understand that we are people like all others and that we should be taken into consideration like all the others, not isolated or marginalised. That happens easily in education:
we always solve the problems with education first, and then if we have more money we solve the problems with the education of people with disabilities. It should be solved at the same time. That is an interesting challenge for the future.
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Dialogue with Kalle Könkkölä, Executive Director of Kynnys (1/3)
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To read more about Kalle Könkkölä, buy his book The World Became My Room (10€) by contacting Kalle directly via e-mail .
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The interview has been enriched with more detailed information from other interviews:
-Adolf Ratzka - Director Independent Living Institute (2008): Interview with Kalle Könkkölä. URL: http://www.independentliving.org/kalle_konkkola200811
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- Jamie Bolling – ENIL Executive Director (2012): “The World Became my Room”, Kalle Könkkölä. URL: http://www.enil.eu/news/the-world-became-my-room-kalle-konkkola/
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- Kalle Könkkölä– Director The Treshold (2008): 25 years of Independent Living in Sweden. Panel: Independent Living abroad - global perspectives, speech by Kalle Könkkölä. URL: http://www.independentliving.org/25yearskonkkola
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Pert Tijokinen - DisabilityWorld (2003): Finland: Kalle Könkkölä, Disabled Activist. URL: http://www.disabilityworld.org/11-12_03/il/finland.shtml
