Mari Paz Jiménez Varona, Inclusion Europe policy assistant, writes about Europe in Action 2026 conference:
Five hundred people filled the room in Vicenza when Maureen Piggot took the floor.
Former president of Inclusion Europe, she had been asked a simple question: What has changed in the past twenty years?
“Families hid their children with intellectual disabilities,” she said. “And now that does not happen.”
It didn’t feel like ancient history. It strikes me how recently this happened — recent enough that people in that room had lived it.
Maureen continued with another perspective on how things changed.
“People with Down syndrome died when they were 20-years-old,” she said. “Now we know that there is a longer life expectancy.”
This makes me think how important it is to look back and to not forget.
To live in the community
Then a self-advocate from Spain took the microphone.
She didn’t speak in statistics. She spoke about her own life — the before and the after.
“Before, I didn’t have a job,” she said. “With time, things have changed. Now I have been able to have a paid job in the public administration, have a house, and live in the community.”
Across the room, people nodded. For many of the families and self-advocates who had travelled to Vicenza from 55 countries, that sentence — live in the community — is still a goal, not a given.
They appreciated hearing it as something achieved, as something that’s part of a person’s life.
To know your rights
A self-advocate from Poland added his own line to the picture: “Now I know my rights, and I have a dignified life.”
This is what I like the most about Europe in Action. Self-advocates take the microphone and share their fights and their achievements.
Find new rooms, find allies
Then the mood in the room changed with another question being asked: What still needs to happen? What do organisations need to do differently?
“Decision-makers hear our opinion, but we also need to bring more and more these matters to different rooms,” said Jyrki Pinomaa, former president of Inclusion Europe. “Especially to people who do not know much about intellectual disabilities.”
“It is important to find the allies you want to work with,” said Camille Latimier, director of Inclusion Czechia and board member of Inclusion Europe.
Two different ways of saying the same thing: The conversation needs to leave this room. This article is one of my ways of ding just that.
And the main message that must not stay in the conference room came one of the Italian self-advocates:
“La battaglia non è finita.”
The battle is not finished.