On 8 November 2016, the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) launched a campaign on the use of European Structural and Investment Funds (‘Structural Funds’) in the European Union (EU) Member States.
The aim of the “EU Funds for Our Rights” Campaign is to encourage the European Commission and the Member States to improve the monitoring and complaints system, in order to ensure that Structural Funds are used to support the rights of people with disabilities, rather than restrict them. Specifically, the EU Funds for Our Rights Campaign is focusing on the role of Structural Funds in supporting the right to live independently and being included in the community, set out in Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The campaign is supported by the Open Society Foundations – Mental Health Initiative.
The objective of the EU Funds for Our Rights Campaign is to encourage Member States to efficiently spend Structural Funds designated for the ‘transition from institutional to community-based care’ and to ensure that there is a proper monitoring and complaints system in place to prevent Structural Funds from going into services which continue to institutionalise disabled people.
If you are engaged in monitoring how Structural Funds are used in relation to disabled people, children or other groups, please alert ENIL in case the funds are used to perpetuate institutionalisation or in other way restrict human rights. You can do that by sending an email to natasa.kokic@enil.eu or also by sending a message through our Facebook page.