European Network on Independent Living - ENIL

08/06/2026

✨ Meet Sofia, ENIL’s trainee!

Sofia Gonçalves is a visually impaired woman from Portugal who has called Brussels home for the past 6 years.

Her journey into disability advocacy started in the classroom. While studying social sciences, Sofia noticed that discussions about inequality and EU policy often left out disabled people’s lives and experiences.

That search for answers led her to disability studies, the social model of disability, and eventually to ENIL.

After taking part in ENIL’s 2024 Freedom Drive, Sofia decided to turn her studies into action for disabled people’s rights.

Now at ENIL, she wants to learn how to advocate effectively so disabled people have a seat at every table where decisions about our lives are made.

It's been amazing having you Sofia!

🔗 Read her full story: https://shorturl.at/Enfhd

02/06/2026

📢 ENIL has submitted its contribution to the CRPD Committee’s zero draft Guidelines on identifying and addressing intersectional discrimination against women and girls with disabilities.

We welcome this important process and the opportunity to contribute to strengthening the protection of the rights of women and girls with disabilities.

👉 Read more:

ENIL has submitted its contribution to the zero draft guidelines on intersectional discrimination against women, calling for the final text to better reflect the ...

01/06/2026

📢 ENIL has sent an open letter to Commissioner Hadja Lahbib on the enhanced European Disability Strategy.

Disabled people across the EU continue to face serious rights violations and barriers to independent living.

Institutionalisation is increasing. The disability employment gap is growing. Disabled people are still at higher risk of poverty. At the same time, access to personal assistance, personal budgets, supported decision-making, accessible housing, and Centres for Independent Living remains deeply unequal across Member States.

The enhanced European Disability Strategy must not become another “tick-box” exercise.

ENIL calls on the European Commission to make the strategy concrete, ambitious, and led by disabled people and their representative organisations.

Our key recommendations include:

🔹 Strong civil society leadership in the proposed EU Alliance for Independent Living
🔹 Concrete blueprints for Centres for Independent Living, personal assistance and personal budget schemes
🔹 An independent, well-funded EU CRPD monitoring framework
🔹 Full participation of disabled women, girls and LGBTQI+ disabled people
🔹 Accessible and affordable housing as a precondition for independent living
🔹 No EU funding for institutional settings

The EU has the tools to make independent living a reality. Now it must deliver.

🔗 Read the full open letter: https://shorturl.at/Su6rc

Brussels 1 June 2026 Subject: Concretising the implementation of the European Disability Strategy 2026-2030, delivering on the Independent Living, equal treatment and social inclusion ...

28/05/2026

📢 Open call: Join ENIL’s new Advisory Board on Intersectionality!

Do you want to help the European Network on Independent Living become a safer, more diverse and more inclusive space?

ENIL is inviting applications for its new Advisory Board on Intersectionality.

The board will bring together five intersectionality experts from across Europe. From July to December 2026, members will work with ENIL to create an action plan on intersectionality within the organisation.

The process will include:

💻 4 online meetings
✍️ Written contributions and feedback between meetings
🤝 Collective work with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences
💬 Open discussions on how ENIL can better reflect intersectional approaches in its work

Selected members may receive a symbolic participation fee of €250, if requested, in recognition of their time, expertise and contribution.

Want to join us?

👉 Apply here: https://shorturl.at/L5tgv

📅 Deadline: 23 June 2026

28/05/2026

📢 Complete this survey to help improve data on institutionalisation!

People living in institutions are often missing from official data, or the information collected about them is incomplete or incorrect.

This survey* will help Disability Rights International and the International Disability Alliance understand what support DPOs need to collect better information and document institutionalisation.

Deadline - 29/05

*the survey is intended for DPOs and Disabled People

👉 Survey:

26/05/2026

Last chance to Join!

Register: https://shorturl.at/3lSMn

Webinar Alert! 🔔

What happens when welfare, care, or support services are reduced?

For many disabled people, austerity does not only mean less money or fewer services. It can also mean fear, stress, isolation, uncertainty, and a constant feeling that your independence is at risk.

Join the next PAW session: Welfare Systems and Fear: Emotional Consequences of Austerity.

🗣️Speaker: Christine Bylund

We will discuss how cuts to welfare and disability support systems affect disabled people financially, emotionally, socially, and psychologically.

📅 Thursday, 28 May
🕔 17:00 – 18:30 CEST
📍 Online

👉 Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/SxKei3pGTfqW0B8ZqSFQdw #/registration

23/05/2026

📢 Join the StratAGEic Strategic Litigation Training Series!

ENIL invites you to a three-step online learning process on strategic litigation for age equality.

The series will guide participants from understanding structural problems, to analysing real cases, and finally exploring concrete litigation strategies to support older people’s human rights advocacy.

The workshops are open to:

👥 Older people who want to turn personal or structural injustices into action
📣 Civil society organisations and human rights advocates working on age equality
⚖️ Pro bono lawyers, legal scholars and practitioners interested in strategic litigation and the EU Charter

🗓️ Session 1: 16 June 2026, 09:30–13:00 CEST
Understanding and structuring strategic litigation

🗓️ Session 2: 23 June 2026, 09:30–13:00 CEST
Peer-learning and case analysis

🗓️ Session 3: 30 June 2026, 09:30–13:00 CEST
Using the EU Charter as a litigation tool

Let’s unleash the potential of strategic litigation for real change on age equality.

🔗 Register: https://shorturl.at/GYyN6

22/05/2026

Register now! Don't miss the deadline (30 June)! This is where change happens!

Register & info: https://www.enil-freedom-drive.com/

The Freedom Drive is back, and we’re calling on YOU to be part of it!

📍 Brussels
📅 29 September – 1 October 2026

For three days, disabled people, activists and allies from across Europe will come together to:
✊ demand our rights
📢 make our voices heard by decision-makers
🤝 connect, learn and build power

From workshops and meetings with MEPs to a protest at the heart of the EU. This is how change happens.

Because independent living is not optional.
Because institutions still exist.
Because our rights cannot wait.

Be loud. Be visible. Be there.

👉 Register now: https://shorturl.at/5SRvy

21/05/2026

Webinar Alert! 🔔

What happens when welfare, care, or support services are reduced?

For many disabled people, austerity does not only mean less money or fewer services. It can also mean fear, stress, isolation, uncertainty, and a constant feeling that your independence is at risk.

Join the next PAW session: Welfare Systems and Fear: Emotional Consequences of Austerity.

🗣️Speaker: Christine Bylund

We will discuss how cuts to welfare and disability support systems affect disabled people financially, emotionally, socially, and psychologically.

📅 Thursday, 28 May
🕔 17:00 – 18:30 CEST
📍 Online

👉 Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/SxKei3pGTfqW0B8ZqSFQdw #/registration