This session was about social exclusion and poverty of people with intellectual disabilities. The speakers explained how people with disabilities can get an education and jobs. If they have a job they won't live in poverty.

Ivo Vykydal, President-elect of Inclusion Europe, opened this plenary session posing the question of what the Convention is able to achieve.

Roberto Leal (Nicaragua) spoke about developing a vision of a sustainable and inclusive world. Himself a father of a child with disabilities, he spoke about solidarity, faith and hope to change the world for people with and without disabilities. Integration is no longer enough, we need inclusion.

Roberto Leal highlighted that exclusion of people with disabilities is not only a family issue but also a political, economical and cultural issue. It is not possible to continue with the same vision as our ancestors, we need change, universal accessibility, civil dialogue, a constant fight to reduce poverty. Our communities must be constantly active, to encourage political, moral, sexual, intellectual and physical diversity.

In these times of crisis, it is more important than ever to ensure that the economic situation does not lead to more exclusion.

Johannes Ten Guezendam , head of the division of Integration of people with intellectual disabilities for the Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs at the European Commission introduced the European Year 2010 for combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. He also discussed the new EU 2020 Strategy and the state of signature and ratification of the UN Convention by the EU and its Member States.

The new EU Disability Strategy 2010-2020 is being prepared with three main objectives

1.      To ensure compliance of the EU with the UNCRPD

2.      To support the 27 EU Member States in their implementation of the UNCRPD

3.      To ensure a solid and strong link with new main political programmes of the EU 2020 strategy

The EU 2020 strategy aims to address long-term challenges facing the EU, as well as issues such as globalisation, pressure on resources and the ageing population. The European Commission plans to improve the lives of people with disabilities in the following key areas:

·         Employment, by supporting Member States’ employment policies with public employment services to give people with disabilities access to better jobs

·         Education, by promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in education and training

·         Poverty reduction, by promoting social innovation for people with complex needs through EU programmes and supporting concrete actions to reduce social exclusion

·         Advocacy and support for human rights and the social model, by mainstreaming and specific actions and projects specifically dealing with disability.

All EU Member States have signed the UN Convention, many have already ratified it and all other countries are preparing for ratification. Many are in the process of preparing for implementation of the UNCRPD. We are currently facing a difficult financial and economic context, but nevertheless there are plans across Europe under development to implement the UN Convention.

The UN Convention is already influencing the EU’s policies but needs to be better known and obligations of UNCRPD need to be more recognized.

Dr Manfred Wiebelt spoke about advancing the Millennium Development Goals in the face of the global economic meltdown. The 8 Millennium Development Goals range from halving extreme poverty to providing universal primary education, all by the year 2015.

Dr. Manfred Wiebelt highlighted that in some areas, we are getting closer to fulfilling the goals, however in other areas, such as the provision of food and non-discriminatory schools, more work is needed if we are to reach the Millennium Development Goals by the designated deadline. The economic crisis has increased instability in developing countries. Now more than ever, inclusion and not exclusion is greatly needed. An integrated approach is needed by governments and donors committed to the Millennium Development Goals.