Who We are
About Us
Living in your own place. Having friends. Making your own choices. Being good at something. Belonging.
All people share these ambitions. But people with intellectual disabilities face segregation, and their family members isolation. They aren’t allowed to have the life they want. We want to change that, and we will.
Inclusion Europe is the European movement representing 20 million people with intellectual disabilities and their family members.
Our vision for Europe
- Ensuring self-advocates and family members have the opportunities and skills to talk directly with decision-makers to express their views and expectations on policies that affect them.
- Research and insights. Informing European policy-making with data and insights about the situation of people with intellectual disabilities and their families, and about the work being done for their full rights and inclusion.
- Collaborations and tools for inclusion. Bringing people together for inclusion, promoting inclusion through collaborations, and leading by example.
Our values
Respect for people with intellectual disabilities, their opinions and choices.
Solidarity between people, generations and organisations.
Inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and their families in all aspects of society and in our organisations.
How we work together
Members
Our members are organisations representing people with intellectual disabilities and their families on national or regional levels. One third of our members are self-advocacy
organisations.
Members elect the Board and approve all major decisions.
Members share their work and experiences to contribute to our work at European level.
European Platform of Self-Advocates
The European Platform of Self-Advocates (EPSA) is made of self-advocacy organisations which are members of Inclusion Europe.
EPSA selects at least 3 members of Inclusion Europe Board.
EPSA makes sure Inclusion Europe is an inclusive organisation by giving feedback on how well self-advocates are represented in our work.
Self-advocates from EPSA represent Inclusion Europe at conferences and meetings.
EPSA organises the self-advocacy conference Hear Our Voices!
EPSA Steering Group is a group of self-advocates that lead the work of EPSA.
The Board
The Board leads the work of Inclusion Europe. Board members are elected by Inclusion Europe members to represent their interests.
The board is composed as a minimum of: 3 self-advocates, appointed by EPSA; 3 family members of people with intellectual disabilities, other advocates representing our members. Board members include Inclusion Europe’s president and Vice-Presidents.
Staff
The staff is a team of people doing most of the day-to-day work of Inclusion Europe.
We all work together to make Europe finally end segregation of people with intellectual disabilities and isolation of their families.
Registration & Governance
Inclusion Europe is an organisation registered in Belgium as an international non-profit association (AISBL).
Registration number: 438.050.317
Constitution
Impact of our work
Easy to read makes information accessible
European easy-to-read guidelines from 1998 are used by many governments and organisations, including EU institutions, to provide information in accessible formats.
Easy-to-read has created many job opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities working as editors, experts on cognitive accessibility, easy-to-read trainers.
Participation of self-advocates at EU-level has much improved.
Self-advocates appear regularly as speakers at key events, influencing policy and ensuring representation in policy-making.
The European Platform of Self-Advocates, established in 2000, brings together self-advocates from 18 countries.
Hear Our Voices! self-advocacy events make sure people with intellectual disabilities come together to be visible and heard.
“Inclusion Europe is increasingly seen as the reference organisation, especially on Easy-to-Read communication and the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in policy processes.”
Bringing attention to people segregated in institutions and the human rights violations they endure
Originating in 2000 with our work in Greece, this has since become the focus of many organisations. Together with EEG we contributed to the recognition of the issue, changes to relevant regulations and EU funding, ultimately to thousands of people supported to move to community.
Impact on legal capacity laws at national level, development of supported decision-making
Thanks to advocacy alongside our members we contributed to changes in electoral law restoring the right to vote.
Research into national situation keeps the issue on the agenda, supports national disability organisations’ advocacy.
EU-level campaign for equal voting rights as we near 50th anniversary of popular vote into the European Parliament inspires remaining countries to make the necessary change.
Inclusion Indicators inform the work of policy-makers and researchers.
Inclusion Indicators provide data about the situation of people with intellectual disabilities and families in 30+ countries, leading to further research, new projects targeting the situation.
“Inclusion Europe works to keep the issues that matter most — moving away from institutional care, ensuring people can make their own decisions, and addressing the specific situation of people with intellectual disabilities — at the heart of discussions on the future of EU disability policy.”
Campaigns and communication
Effective communication educates policy-makers and others about disability rights, situation of people with intellectual disabilities.
Strong reach with clarity of our message and numbers of subscribers and followers.
“Inclusion Europe is a highly relevant, effective, and efficient EU-level organisation with a clear mission and strong credibility,” whose work “demonstrates meaningful impact on policy debates, accessibility practices, and the empowerment of people with intellectual disabilities.”