Activities of Therese COMODINI CACHIA related to 2015/2258(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (debate)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with special regard to the Concluding Observations of the UN CRPD Committee
Amendments (15)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that independence, integration and access to an inclusive education and training system, cultural life, leisure and sport are rights guaranteed by Articles 19, 24 and 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and are protected under EU law, in particular in the context of fighting discrimination on the grounds of disability (Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU) and the principle of integration of persons with disabilities (Article 26 of the Charter); asks the Commission and the Member States therefore to reinforce measures aimed at ensuring that people with disabilities have effective and equal access to key areas such as inclusive, quality education, culture and sport and include disability- specific indicators in the Europe 2020 strategy when pursuing the education target;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that people with disabilities are often excluded or do not have adequateffective access to education and training services where tailored education projects are needed; asks the Member States to strengthen training programmes for teachers and other school staff in order to increase the support they can provide to students withcesses assist persons with disabilities to reach their full social, economic and educative potential; asks the Member States to strengthen training programmes and continuous professional development opportunities for educators in order to support their work with learners with disabilities, increase the support they can provide to students with disabilities with special regard to the different types of impairments and for them to be actors in combatting prejudice against persons with disabilities in schools, especially persons with psychosocial disabilities and intellectual disabilities;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses that necessary measures must be taken to ensure that education institutes are empowered to implement measures of reasonable accommodation to make education more physically accessible, as well as implement measures so that inclusive education becomes such which facilitates the process of the learner to attain his or her full potential; recommends that European Schools implement a non-rejection policy on the grounds of disability and ensure inclusive, quality education for all students with disabilities;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Calls for the implementation of effective measures that address violence and bullying within the educational system as research shows that most measures at the level of Member States fail to recognise and address the particular risk of children with disabilities. Notes that schools play a crucial role in promoting social inclusion, and stresses the need of a proper mechanisms that enables inclusion in mainstream schools and which could also ensure that educators teachers are properly prepared and trained to recognise and react to violence against children with disabilities;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Calls for education systems to refrain from creating environments that label learners, such as banding and streaming, as this negatively affects students with disabilities especially those with learning difficulties;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2d. Recalls that children with disabilities and their families must be supported through measures of early intervention, adequate social assistance and appropriate community-based services;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2e. Calls on the Commission to adopt effective measures to prevent violence against children with disabilities, targeting families, communities, professionals and institutions. Notes with concern that society's lack of awareness, general discriminatory views based on prejudice, lack of interaction between people with and without disabilities can all contribute to violence again children with disabilities;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 f (new)
Paragraph 2 f (new)
2f. Calls on the Commission to mainstream a women and girls with disabilities perspective in its forthcoming gender equality strategy, policies and programmes so as a gender perspective in its disability strategies to promote gender equality and empowerment of women with disabilities, to ensure disability inclusive education and development and to strengthen the meaningful participation of women with disabilities in the disability dialogue;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. UStresses that people with disabilities need to have access to information and communication in accessible formats and technologies appropriate to different kinds of disabilities, including sign languages, Braille, augmentative and alternative communication and other accessible means, modes, formats of communication of their choice, including easy-to-read formats, subtitling; hence calls on the Commission to take the necessary measures to enforce the implementation of its legislation on access to information and communication; urges the Council to adopt without further delay the Decision on the conclusion of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recalls that sport is an extremely valuable tool in the context of social inclusion and integration as these activities provide opportunities for interaction and the attainment of social skills; stresses the need to ensure effective access for persons with disabilities to sport and for their participation in sports events. Notes that right to have full access to cultural, recreational and sport activities are fundamental rights and are key element to a barrier-free Europe, thereby calls on the Commission to improve the accessibility of sports, leisure, cultural and recreational organisations, activities, events, venues, goods and services including audiovisual ones;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Insists on the importance of digital systems for people with disabilities as a tool to facilitate their participation in all aspects of society, including through assistive technologies; calls on the legislator at national and EU level to include accessibility provisions when implementing digital single market legislation and to take the necessary measures to fight cybercrime and cyberbullying, urges that the use of assisting ambient technologies for the inclusion of people with disabilities in education are to be investigated and that their impact on people with disabilities and also on the possible use for other learners shall be examined;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Notes that persons with disabilities should not be left out or lag behind in accessing the digital and technological developments that are ever more increasing the ways we access and impart information, creating online interactive mediums and facilitate access to culture, and calls on the Commission to ensure that in its digital single market legislation and measures related thereto it considers specific measures that may be required to facilitate access to the opportunities of digital and technological developments for persons with disabilities;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Calls on the Commission to involve civil society organisations, in particular organisations of persons with disabilities in the preparation of country by country reports and country specific recommendations, to achieve the goal of "nothing about us without us";
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Asks the Commission to launch a campaign to raise awareness about the CRPD; asks each EU institution and agency to organise a specific training module on the CRPD for its staff, in cooperation with organisations for people with disabilities and urges that materials related to capacity-building, training and awareness raising shall be made available in accessible formats.
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses that the importance of UN CRPD fundamentally lies in bringing about a change in cultural attitudes towards recognising that obstacles in the social and economic environments disable people rather than seeing the disability in the person.