Government Implementation of the Standard Rules
As Seen By Member Organizations of
Disabled Peoples' International - DPI

Denmark

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© Dimitris Michailakis 1997

The Danish Council of Organizations of Disabled People, Denmark
Compare with the following Country Report(s): the Danish Government, RI, WBU

General policy

The officially recognized disability policy is expressed in law (though not in a general clause, disability, however, being included in various legal texts), in guidelines adopted by the government and in policy adopted by NGO's. According to the Government's reply, disability policy in Denmark is also expressed in guidelines adopted by the Government but not in law. The Government claims that disability policy equally emphasizes rehabilitation, individual support and accessibility measures. The emphasis in this policy is on prevention, rehabilitation, individual support and accessibility measures. Anti-discrimination is not emphasised.

Since the adoption of the Rules, the government has done the following in order to convey the message of full participation: The UN Standard Rules have been translated into Danish and distributed, and a brochure about the UN Standard Rules has been published. The Minister of Housing has set up a committee with representatives from 6 other ministries the task of which, is to draw up a national access plan before 1 October this year.

Legislation

The rights of persons with disabilities are protected by a combination of special legislation and general legislation. The judicial mechanism adopted to protect the rights of persons with disabilities is the right to administrative appeal. Non-judicial mechanisms include: an Ombudsman, a governmental body (administrative) and independent expert bodies (The National Centre for Equal Opportunities). According to the Government, there is no governmental body (administrative) in order to protect the rights of persons with disabilities..

General legislation applies to persons with different disabilities with respect to education, employment, the right to marriage, the right to parenthood/family, political rights, access to court-of-law, the right to privacy and property rights. The following benefits are guaranteed by law to persons with disabilities: health and medical care, training, rehabilitation and counselling, financial security, employment, independent living and participation in decisions affecting themselves. According to the Government, the benefit of participation in decisions affecting themselves is not guaranteed by law to disabled people. In addition, no public service is denied to persons with disabilities. If this should happen, such discrimination would be sharply criticised by the Ombudsman and in the media.

No new legislation concerning disability has been enacted, since the adoption of the Rules.

Accessibility

There are building regulations for all new buildings requiring that public places, and housing are made accessible. According to the Government, laws and regulations to ensure accessibility in the built environment are not sufficient. Accessibility in the built environment is observed by local governments and by the constructor. According to the Government, accessibility in the build environment is observed by a national authority and by local governments. The following measures have been promoted in order to facilitate accessibility in the built environment: levelling off pavements, marking parking areas, improving accessibility in housing, providing financial support for accessibility measures in housing and providing specially adapted motor vehicles. Special transport for persons with disabilities includes door to door transport by small accessible buses, one trip per week, being the average in the counties. Special transport is available for medical treatment and for recreational purpose. It is not available for education and work. The Government states that special transport is available also for education and work. The most difficult obstacles, when planning to build accessible environments, are economic/budgetary factors, lack of legislation and regulations and lack of enforcement mechanism. According to the Government, there are many obstacles but the Government does not specify the most difficult of them. There is no disability awareness component incorporated in the training of planners, architects and construction engineers. Some courses, however, are now offered to the students, on a voluntary basis.

Sign language for deaf people is recognized as the official language of deaf people and is used as the first language in education of deaf people. There are no government measures to encourage media and other forms of public information to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities. The following services are provided, though not to a sufficient degree, in order to facilitate information and communication between persons with disabilities and others: literature in Braille/tape, news magazines on tape/Braille, sign language interpretation and easy readers for persons with mental disabilities.

Organizations of persons with disabilities

There is a national umbrella organization, The Danish Council of Organizations of Disabled People, with 27 member organizations, covering all groups of disabled people. There are legal provisions mandating the representatives of persons with disabilities to participate in policy-making and to work with governmental institutions. Organizations of persons with disabilities are often consulted, when laws and regulations with a disability aspect are being prepared. Consultations occur at both the national, regional and local level. The government financially supports existing or new organizations of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities participate to a very limited extent in government, legislatures, judicial authorities, political parties, but to a great extent in NGO's. The Government did not provide any answer concerning the extent of participation of persons with disabilities. The role of organizations of persons with disabilities is to advocate rights and improved services, mobilize persons with disabilities, identify needs and priorities, participate in the planning, implementation and evaluation of services and measures concerning the lives of persons with disabilities and contribute to public awareness. According to the Government, organizations also provide services and promote/organize income generating activities.

Co-ordination of work

The national co-ordinating committee is reporting to the Ministry of Social Affairs. According to the Government, the co-ordinating committee is reporting to the Parliament (Folketinget) and to the Government. The committee includes representatives of many ministries and of organizations of persons with disabilities. In addition, the National Association of Local Authorities in Denmark and The Association of County Councils have one member each. The government expects the co-ordinating committee to participate in policy development and to perform other tasks. The establishment of the co-ordinating committee has had the following effects: improved co-ordination of measures/programmes, improved integration of responsibility and a better dialogue in the disability field. According to the Government, the co-ordinating committee has also improved legislation and promoted public awareness.

The adoption of the Rules has not yet led to a rethinking of the approach to disability policy. However, it has raised awareness and will no doubt play a major role in all future activities in the disability field. The implementation of the UN Standard Rules is the overall objective and the yardstick by which everything is going to be measured from now and in the future.

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