Introduction: 2003, the European Year of People with Disabilities

You may be aware that 2003 is the European Year of People with Disabilities. The European Union and the Council of Europe called upon every person and every organisation to advertise the year as widely as possible and to use the year to raise awareness that disability is an issue of concern to all of us.

Why do we need a European Year of People with Disabilities 2003? There are 37 million people with disabilities in the European Union. That is one in ten of us or 10 % of the EU population. We believe that disabled people are people with equal rights. Disabled people are workers, consumers, tax payers, politicians, students, neighbours, family and friends. But disabled people are not treated that way.

A recent European survey shows there is a serious lack of understanding of what disability means and how many people it affects. Disabled people should be treated as equal citizens who have the power to speak for themselves, not as objects of pity or charity. Disabled people are often excluded from society through poor education and unemployment, leading to poverty.

So the European Year is about raising awareness of the rights of disabled people to full equality and participation in all areas. It is about tackling barriers that people with disabilities face, wherever they occur.

EUD decided to set up a special website with European Commission funding targeting Deaf people, and more specifically sign language users, in Europe, about the Year 2003.

The website is special since it contains information in all 11 (official) EU written languages and all 16 EU sign languages.