Some history….

The European Disability Forum is an independent non-governmental organization representing the interests of 80 million disabled Europeans. This is a unique platform bringing together representative organizations of people with disabilities from all over Europe. EDF is run by people with disabilities and their families who are fighting for their rights. The European Parliament of People with Disabilities meets on average every 10 years in the European Parliament's Chamber in Brussels. The difference is that it's not Members of the European Parliament that are sitting in the seats, but the representatives of organizations acting for the benefit of people with disabilities.

The largest group from Poland ...

The Polish delegation will be one of the strongest among all EU Member States! Next to the Memebers of the Parliament, representatives of Non-governmental organizations, journalists, representatives of people with disabilities will be also The Only One Foundation and Aleksandra Chichikova - Miss Wheelchair World 2017. Fundacji Jedyna Taka i Aleksandra Chichikova – Miss Wheelchair World 2017.

Main topics of this year's conference ...

This year's Brussels debates will cover the topics of accessibility during elections, the implementation of the United Nations Convention especially the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and also European strategy regarding to people with disabilities for the years 2020-2030.

Preparatory seminar ...

On Wednesday, 22nd of November, in Warsaw took place a preparatory meeting for polish representatives for the 4th European Parliament of persons with disabilities. The delegates from Poland were able to get acquainted with the subjects of debates that will take place during the parliamentary meeting and they were trying to reach a common ground, that will be presented in parliamentary speeches.

Our aim…

As an organization working for people with disabilities, we want to raise(one of the most important subjects for us, namely assistance for people with disabilities. In our country, but also in others, unfortunately government forgets about the dependent people, who without the help of others are not able to perform many activities. As an organization in which dependent people are currently working, we know how important it is to have a person who will help in everyday functioning and therefore will improve the quality of their lives. In our view, such a solution would certainly open employers to people with disabilities and, above all, would encourage people with disabilities to become more active and committed to live.

The most important invited speakers ...

• Emily O'Reilly, European Ombudsman
• Georgios Dassis, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
• Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Vice President of the European Parliament
• Marian Thyssen, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility
• Christos Stylianides, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management
• Neven Mimica, European Commissioner in charge of International cooperation and Development.
• Jana Hainsworth, President of Social Platform

The President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, and President of European Disability Forum Yannis Vardakastanis will open this event.

"Nothing about us without us" ....

We are glad that the group from Poland is so large and we hope in that in this dialogue the voice of all people with disabilities and especially from our country, will sound loud and clear because it is really important.

We are very grateful to the MEP Marek Plura, who has honoured us at the Miss Wheelchair World 2017 Final Gala and now will be coordinating the arrival of delegates from Poland.

Good to know...

What matters, is that the conference will be web streamed live, with subtitles and international sign interpretation on the European Parliament Web TV.

For more information visit the website: http://www.edf-feph.org/ MEP Marek Plura's website: https://www.facebook.com/plura.marek/