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NewsNotes Archive
SEPTEMBER 2003
In this issue:
WelcomeThis is the fifth ELSA electronic newsletter, we thank you for starting or continuing to subscribe and we hope you will find it of interest. Due to summer and holiday time this edition is a little bit shorter than the previous ones but we do hope you will find some valuable information in it. For our first time readers in particular here's some basic information on the purpose of our newsletter. The newsletter has been funded by the European Commission as part of the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003. The European Year is organised by the European Commission in collaboration with the European Disability Forum (EDF). The EDF is a European umbrella organisation representing more than 37 million disabled people in Europe. ELSA is a founding member of the EDF. 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. 2003 is an opportunity to change the future for disabled people. And a good future for disabled people means a good future for all people. |