President of the European
Council
Mr. Charles Michel,
Members of the European
Council
The Ambassador of
the European Union to
Georgia,
Mr. Carl Hartzell
Your Excellency Mr. President,
Your Excellency, Mr. Ambassador,
Esteemed Members of the Council,
We, the representatives of the organizations of
persons with disabilities,
activists with disabilities,
associations of parents of children with special needs, and supporters of the
community of individuals with disabilities, would like to address you.
The opportunity to speed up the integration of Georgia
into the EU has given great hope to our community. A European future and its
associated development is directly linked to the welfare of people with
disabilities, including access to affordable healthcare, quality education,
employment, and dignified and independent living.
The recommendations of the European Commission
published on the 17th of June have caused significant upheaval in
the country. Many feel that European integration is now a very distant prospect.
Accordingly, they are concerned that positive legislative and program changes are
previously undertaken by the government, with advocacy and support of our
community as well as donors like the EU, will be significantly disrupted if not
halted altogether. We fear that the refusal to grant EU candidate status may significantly
hamper positive developments in Georgia, causing frustration and hopelessness
among its population.
As depicted in the EC
recommendations, the disabled community is one of the most marginalized groups
in the country. Georgia carries a heavy Soviet legacy, and our community bears the collective
traumatic
memory of isolation and institutionalization. Individuals with
disabilities and their parents face enormous challenges. Despite this, the disability
community, with support from European states, has achieved sizable changes.
Primary among those achievements is an increased awareness of the population; nowadays,
having a classmate or a coworker with disabilities is not considered unusual.
As a result of our advocacy, Georgia ratified the UN CRPD
in 2014. We made every effort to develop the mechanisms for the implementation
and monitoring of the CRPD at the central and local levels. In 2020, the
Parliament of Georgia adopted the Law on Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
While positive progress has been made at the legislative level, largely due to
our advocacy efforts and investments, we still face enormous challenges in the implementation
of the legislation.
EU membership candidate status was and is
seen as an opportunity to speed up the process of EU integration, which will reverberate
in improvements in the situation of persons with disabilities and bring us
closer to a life where we can enjoy equal rights.
If Georgia is not granted EU member
candidate status, we fear that progress in this direction will halt. The main
driver of all positive development in the country has been the perspective of EU
integration. If we are stripped of this chance in such a historic moment of
global development, we, the persons with disabilities and their parents may not
live to see any more positive changes.
We request that on the 24th of
June when the decision to grant EU membership candidate status is discussed and
decided, you take into consideration the position of the disability community
of Georgia. On our behalf, we remain committed to actively working towards the
fulfillment of all the conditions set by the EU to Georgia for EU membership.
Georgia’s integration into the EU and our commitment
to European values is a historic choice and our strongest desire!
Respectfully,
The
Georgian Down Syndrome Association;
Georgian
National Network of Women with Disabilities;
Coalition for
Change - Network of Parents of People with Mental Health Problems and
Intellectual Disabilities;
Coalition for
Independent Living;
Parent
Information Center-PIC, Parent Information Center;
Families
against discrimination FAD;
Adjara Union
of Parents of Persons with Disabilities;
Adjara branch
of the Georgian Down Syndrome Association;
Youth
Organization, Changes for Equal Rights - Adjara;
Union
"Parental Support";
Rare Diseases
Organization "Drive Georgia";
Mental Health
Center "Gamma";
Georgian-American
Autism Center "Lollipop";
CDG-GEORGIA- Organization
of Rare Diseases;
Georgian
Academy for Children with Disabilities;
Global
Initiative in Psychiatry Foundation-Tbilisi;
Sighnaghi
Region Socially Helpless Therapy Union - Community Kedeli;
Organization
of Parents of Children with Disabilities "Parents";
"Our
Children" - Ozurgeti;
Listen to the
world - Telavi;
Association
for Protection of Parents and Children's Interest "Dia";
Union of
Parents of Persons with Disabilities in Sighnaghi;
Foundation Aures;
Association
Dea;
Ozurgeti Independent Living Center;
Association Anika;
Georgian Portage Association;
Ilia University Child Development Institute;
"Child,
Family, Society";
Alliance
of Women with Disabilities;
National
Network of Women with Disabilities;
Women and reality;
Sunny
path;
Wolfram Syndrome Georgia;
The
voice of a new generation;
Children
of the Sun;
Georgian Network of Psychiatric Service Consumers and Survivors (GNUSP);
"I am a
woman";
Women with
disabilities for equality;
Strengthening
and Sustainable Support Center "Harmony";
Registered Union of Persons with Disabilities in Sachkhere;
Progress vector;
Oda Care;
Center for
Welfare and Development;
'Association
for the Aid of Children with Hearing and Speech Disorders'';
Georgian Mental
Health Association;
"Movement-accessible
environment for everyone";
Women and
Persons with Disabilities Support Center "Speak";
“Center for Welfare and
Development ";
"Lampari"
Union of Parents of Children with Disabilities;
Partnership for
Social Welfare;
Batumi
Independent Living Center;
Gurjaani
Association of Parents of Persons with Disabilities;
Lagodekhi Center for Independent Living
Independent activists with disabilities:
Natia
Gogolashvili
Anna Nazgaidze
