The first international congress of young disabled people was a landmark for campaigners who have been denied a voice. Children’s Express reports back from Wales.
One hundred young disabled people from around the world marked the European Year of Disabled People at Swansea University in Wales from 30 June to 5 July.
The event, Rights into Action 2003, was the first international congress of young disabled people. It was led by the young people themselves and was designed to led them have their voices heard.
With the help of funding from the Welsh Assembly and the British Council, they attended workshops and passionately discussed the issues that affect their lives.
The delegates, aged 14 to 24, were recruited through voluntary organisations across the globe including Africa and South-East Asia. Debate centred on the social model of disability, with access to education and employment at the centre of their concerns, along with other people’s attitudes and prejudices.
The congress was organised by Children in Wales, with Bob Mattingly as a key organiser.
He said: “I’ve been working on this for about eight months, and organising the logistics wasn’t easy. It’s not a package holiday. We had 100 kids, each with their own very particular needs. We really had to fight to get some of these visas, but we succeeded in all but one case.”
One delegate who faced difficulties in attending was Sharif Ullahlatifi, 24, from Afghanistan. He says “We waited more than two months, but eventually the visa was agreed two days before congress. I had to travel on a bus on a very rough road for 10 hours and spend a day in Pakistan filling in forms and getting tickets. Then I flew from Islamabad to London. I’m so glad I made it,
but I don’t know what going home will be like.”
European delegates at the congress were shocked to hear of the circumstances that young disabled people experience in developing countries.
They met Jabu Lal Chaudhary, 16, from Nepal. Jabu has worked as a manual labourer since he was 14, despite having a severe impairment of both his feet.
At the congress, he devoted much of his time to art. “I love the drawing and painting. In Nepal, all my time is taken up with school and work. I walk two hours to school, and when I finish my lessons, I work as a stone-breaker for five hours. I break stones into pebbles for construction – building roads and walls. I don’t do paintings.”
The contrast between the young people’s lives was illuminated by the fact that Jabu walks only with the aid of a pair of flip-flops that he personally adapted and a piece of rough cane as a walking stick.
The young people whose disabilities ranged from physical impairments to learning difficulties, talked freely in workshops and expressed themselves not only through art. In the evening, when they had finished with politics, delegates disco-danced into the early hours.
After a week of workshops, debates and refining ideas, the young people drew up a manifesto of demands to present to influential politicians and decision-makers at a plenary event.
A panel of elected participants presented their ideas, and then discussed the manifesto with the politicians in small groups.
Glenys Kinnock, MEP for Wales, said: “This congress is so important – young disabled people are getting doors quite literally shut in their faces.
“The European Union is a major donor of aid to these countries, so I will make sure that when we put programmes in place, we will pressurise for commitments and provision for disability rights in every programme.”
An important part of the manifesto was the desire to build and maintain an international network of young disabled people who will campaign and plan future congresses.
After, Jane Royall, from the European Commission, made a spontaneous commitment to investigate funding. She said: “I am committed to seeing this international network go stronger.”
The Disability Rights Commission’s Commissioner for Wales, Kevin Fitzpatrick, responsible for the initial idea of the event says: “Some people that have come here do not even have a conception of what it is to have a civil right, to have human rights, or to be able to secure those rights for themselves.
"We believe that this week will have changed that for a number of young people, and they can take that message home with them and start making a change in their home countries.”
About the team
This story was produced by Asa Marshal 14, Zara Todd 16 and Dean Russell 16. It was published in Disability Now magazine.
Children's Express would like to thank the signers and translators that helped us with our interviews, in particular Jiyam Babu Shrestha from Nepal. We would also like to thank Barrow Cadbury for the funding that made it possible for us to attend Congress and report on it.
