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United Nations Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner, Europe Regional Office convened a meeting in Brussels on May 7 2012 "CRPD and EU Structural Funds: The way ahead for Independent Living" to raise awareness about the violation of CRPD Article 19 "Living independently and being included in the community" by using EU Structural Funds for the construction and maintenance of residential institutions. The paper shows how demand-driven direct payments for Personal Assistance services, not only achieve far superior quality of services than residential institutions resulting in higher quality of life for service users at lower costs but also affect a country's economy more favorably. Thus, violating Article 19 of the CRPD is not only illegal but also wasteful in terms of human and monetary capital.

What are the important features of a national policy on personal assistance that is to promote "living independently and being included in the community" "with choices equal to others" and to enable persons with disabilities to fulfill their duties and to enjoy their rights as citizens? The presentation identifies the elements of the Swedish Personal Assistance Act of 1994 that have contributed most to the outcome of this widely acclaimed legislation.

In this presentation Mr Bengt Westerberg, former Swedish Minister of Social Affairs 1991-1994 and leader of the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet), describes the Swedish Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS), puts it in context with other Swedish legislation, and reflects on its societal costs and benefits. The reform utilizes direct payments for freedom of choice, self-determination and personal responsibility and, in this way, differs from traditional Swedish welfare politics where state agencies typically combine the functions of needs assessment, financing, quality control and service provision. Mr Westerberg, who credits the Swedish Independent Living movement for introducing the concept of direct payments for personal assistance to Sweden, succeeded in getting the legislation approved by Parliament during the country's deep economic crisis at the beginning of the 1990's. In Sweden, his personal pride in the legislation he authored is well-known. 

The author, a Juris Doctorate student at Yale Law School seeks to show that Global disability needs to be considered in a global justice framework. Medicalizing the issue of disability may occlude the social and political aspects of disability. While the history of political thought and social contract theories are embarrassing in their neglect and treatment of disability, the history of the U.S. Civil Rights struggle offers some interesting parallels.

Människor som förvärvar sitt funktionshinder efter 65 år missgynnas i jämförelse med de som får en funktionsnedsättning i yngre år: enligt den nuvarande lagen om assistansersättning (LSS) kan de inte få assistansersättning som skulle förbättra deras livskvaliet enligt Adolf Ratzka, verksamhetsledare för Independent Living Institute. Personlig assistans är så mycket billigare per timme än kommunal hemtjänst och andra kommunala insatser och samtidigt så mycket effektivare, hävdar debattartikelns författare, att man borde räkna på de samhällsekonomiska effekterna av att utöka rätten till assistansersättning till alla människor med assistansbehov oavsett ålder eller personkrets.Artikeln publicerades först i Social Vetenskaplig Tidskrift Årgång 21, Nummer 3-4, 2014

In this presentation Dr. Adolf Ratzka emphasizes that city and housing planners still do not pay sufficient attention to barrier-free housing for people with disabilities and proposes the goal of general accessibility in the housing stock, in both new construction an renovation. Drawing on Swedish experience he claims that general residential accessibility would also imply savings to society in the form of lower costs due to fewer residential accidents particularly in the older population.

Persönliche Assistenz ist eine hochqualitative und kostengünstige Alternative zu Wohneinrichtungen und ambulanten Diensten, laut Adolf Ratzka - eine Behauptung, die er mit den über 20-jährigen schwedischen Erfahrungen mit persönlicher Assistenz belegt. Den Hauptwiderstand gegen persönliche Assistenz in Deutschland sieht er in den Eigeninteressen der Wohlfahrtsverbände und dem noch weitverbreiteten medizinischen Bild von Behinderung.

Sjukvård. Många köper sina hjälpmedel själva utanför landstingens system. Har man råd får man större utbud, bättre kvalitet och bemötande. Genom att skapa en ny modell för detta, hämtad från assistansersättningen skulle hjälpmedelsanvändarna få större självbestämmande och högre livskvalitet, oavsett storlek på plånboken.

In his keynote address Adolf Ratzka delineates the origins of STIL, the Stockholm Cooperative for Independent Living owned and mainly run by Personal Assistance user themselves providing services to its members. Personal Assistance is here depicted as an example of demand-driven as opposed to supply-driven services which, according to the text's analysis, would explain the differences between these services in terms of quality and cost efficiency.

 Ansökan till Arvsfonden, inskickad juli 2016. Det finns mindre revideringar och kompletteringar som gjordes senare. Vi har inte översatt denna till engelska än (There is currently no english translation). 

Originally written in English, translated into French and published as " L’autodétermination des personnes très dépendantes grâce au choix politique d’attribuer les financements de l’assistance personnelle directement aux personnes concernées" in Vie Sociale 2017/1 (n° 17) Vivre chez soi soutenu par des aides humaines See the French article here: http://www.cairn.info/revue-vie-sociale-2017-1-page-119.html 

Open mic event on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ”Human Rights: a reality for all persons with disabilities?” European United Left/Nordic Green Left European Parliamentary Group European Parliament, Brussels October 17, 2018