Inclusion Europe Annual Report 2022

Read the full annual report here.

Letter from the President

The year 2022 was sad and shocking. Russia brutally attacked Ukraine on 24 February 2022. This war has affected millions of people, and to a greater extent affects 260,000 Ukrainians with intellectual disabilities.

To help Ukrainian people with intellectual disabilities and their families, Inclusion Europe started a special fundraising campaign in March 2022. Our campaign has been a success, raising around 660,000 euros, we have been able to help by sending money to families in need.

Thank you all for your help. Thank you all for your solidarity towards Ukraine and Ukrainian people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

This year, we also continued our work with the final year of our 5Es strategy. The theme of 2022 was Ending segregation. We were able, finally, meet in person again at our Europe in Action conference. We had many truly interactive sessions sharing with each other the good work of many of our member organisations and to make plans towards Europe with no segregation.

Finally, this year the European Parliament recognised our work by giving an award to the My Talents For Diversity project. This award encourages us all in our work towards a more equal Europe.

Topic of the year: Ending segregation

Inclusion Europe focused on the topic of ending segregation in 2022. We published articles about legal capacity, independent living, deinstitutionalisation, voting rights, employment and more.

Ukraine fundraising and support

Inclusion Europe launched the Help Ukraine fundraiser. Many Inclusion Europe members and organisations and individuals from outside Europe supported the initiative.

By the end of 2022, the fundraiser collected over €660,000. The money helped families to buy daily supplies, to pay for personal assistance and other support, and to restore functioning of some day centres, workshops etc.

Events

During 2022, Inclusion Europe organised and attended events and activities to contribute with expertise and views of people with intellectual disabilities.

• Europe in Action: The conference took place from 7 to 9 September 2022 in Brussels. The conference focused on ending segregation of people with intellectual disabilities. The conference had 120 in-person and 50 online participants.
• Advocacy training at national level: Training on self-advocacy and participation in Czechia. 29 participants attended the training.
• Tuesday tutorials: Inclusion Europe launched a series of trainings at the end of 2022 called “Tuesday Tutorials at Two”. The goal of the trainings was to connect with members, and to facilitate the sharing of knowledge between members.

Policy and Advocacy

• Deinstitutionalisation: We supported EEG (European Expert Group) work on advocacy and awareness about deinstitutionalisation and use of EU funds. Inclusion Europe produced videos on self-advocacy and deinstitutionalisation and published a chapter in a book about the issue.
• Ukraine: We wrote two reports on the situation in Ukraine, and organised four online discussions to exchange information between our members.
• European collaboration: Inclusion Europe cooperated and communicated with European institutions, NGOs, and other stakeholders making sure their policies, action and communication take on board the views of people with intellectual disabilities and their families.
• Easy to read and accessibility: Our advocacy for easy to read brought results. For example, the European Commission provided an easy-to-read version of its new Disability Rights Strategy.

European Citizen’s Prize

Inclusion Europe won the European Citizen’s Prize from the European Parliament for “My Talents. For Diversity” project on 8 November 2022.

Communication activities

• 4 Europe for Us magazines (5,250 subscribers) and newsletters (10,641 subscribers).
• 6 podcasts with 5,250 plays.
• Social media posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram with 1.3 impressions.
• 6 videos were published.
• 474,098 website visits.