Click on a word which is in blue and bold to read what it means.
Speech from László Bercse
Harvard Law School Project on Disability
14.04.21., Zoom meeting
Our work on the CRPD
The self-advocacy group from Budapest
started working on the CRPD in 2017.
We sent questions to the CRPD
Committee about the main issues.
We wrote what we think was important
for the Committee to investigate.
We focused on independent living
and deinstitutionalization.
We wrote the shadow report in 2018.
We wrote about issues
• what we experience
• other self-advocates told us
• or we heard from others who
came for support to our organization.
How did we work on the report?
The director of ÉFOÉSZ invited us to work on the report.
Self-advocates were happy to take part.
We had support during the work.
Self-advocates were satisfied with the result.
The report includes what we think and experience.
We met with the group weekly, for 4 months.
First, we talked about the Convention and how the Committee works.
Then we studied each of the articles.
We talked about 2 articles every week.
We talked about:
• What are our rights?
• What is implemented from the Convention in Hungary
and what is not?
• How could the Convention be
better implemented in Hungary?
ÉFOÉSZ sent one report to the Committee.
One part of it was the easy-read report of self-advocates.
The other part was a detailed legal analysis
about the situation in Hungary.
Main topics we wrote about
• Independent Living
• Guardianship
• Right to vote
• Accessible information
• Women with intellectual disabilities
Other Hungarian organizations wrote shadow reports as well.
Ours is unique because we wrote it in easy-to-read language.
We also wrote why easy-to-read information is important to us.
I would advise other self-advocates to write a shadow report.
This a good way to tell what barriers we face.
It is a useful tool for self-advocacy.
To speak up for ourselves and others.
How do we use the report?
We work with 2 universities.
We refer to the report regularly,
when we speak about the rights of people with disabilities.
For example, at courses on accessibility and disability policy.
What did self-advocates learn during the work?
Self-advocates became more aware of their rights
and about the work of the CRPD Committee.
