Independent Living: The Next Generation

ENIL Freedom Drive 2015 Conference

1 October 2015, Brussels

BEL Brussels, Avenue du Port 86c/3002, 1000 Brussels

9:00 – 10:00 / Registration with coffee/tea
10:00 – 10:30 / Welcome and opening words
  • Jamie Bolling, ENIL Executive Director
  • Maria-Luisa Cabral, Head of Unit, Rights of persons with Disabilities, DG Employment, European Commission
  • MEP Howitt Co-chair of the Disability Intergroup, European Parliament
  • MEP PluraVice-president of the Disability Intergroup, European Parliament
  • KapkaPanayotova, ENIL President
  • Zara Todd, ENIL Youth Network

10:30 – 12:30 / Parallel sessions
Session 1
Moderator: Peter Lambreghts - ENIL Senior Officer and Onafhankelijk Leven vzw
How can we advance the right on Independent Living via the EU policy level? – Helga Stevens MEP, Co-chair Disability Intergroup, MEP Howitt Co-chair of the Disability Intergroup, Maria-Luisa Cabral, Head of Unit, Rights of persons with Disabilities, DG Employment, European Commission, Marie-Anne Paraskevas, ESF and Cohesion Policy, DG Employment
Session 2
Moderator : AgnesFave– ENIL Youth Network
Monitoring the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD): writing shadow reports and following the implementation of Concluding observations – Nadia Hadad and Patrick Vandelanotte (GRIP, Belgium) and KapkaPanayotova (CIL Sofia, Bulgaria) and RadosKeravica (ENIL Youth Network)
Session 3
Moderator: Dilyana Deneva (ENIL- EC Program)
Ways for young disabled people to engage in advocacy for Independent Living at the local, national and European level – Zara Todd (ENIL Youth Network), Gatis Caunitis (ENIL Youth Network) and Alexandra Surla (ENIL Youth Network)
12:30 – 14:00 / Lunch break (with sandwiches and coffee/tea)
14:00 – 16:00 / Parallel mutual exchange sessions for ENIL members and other interested participants
Question to answer at each exchange:
What should ENIL do at the policy level and to support to members in this area?
Session 1
Sharing strategies on how to fight the cuts to Independent Living services in Europe – moderated by Miro Griffiths (ENIL board) and John Evans (ENIL Advisory Group Expert)
Session 2
Advocating for legislation which promotes Independent Living – moderated by Stelios Kympouropoulos (ENIL Youth Network) and KapkaPanayotova (ENIL board)
Session 3
Developing the ENIL Youth Network – moderated by Zara Todd (ENIL Youth Network)and Jamie Bolling (ENIL Director)
16:00 – 16:30 / Coffee/tea break
16:30 – 17:00 / Closing session
  • Presentation of conclusions from the mutual exchange sessions by the moderators
  • Closing words by Jamie Bolling, ENIL Executive Director

The working language of the conference is English. Please note that this programmeis subject to changes.

To register for the conference, please download the Registration form from:

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