03/12/2025
Today, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we call on the European Union, national governments and international organisations to properly fund and support organisations of persons with disabilities and civil society organisations in general.
Organisations of persons with disabilities are essential to ensure a democratic and fully inclusive political process. Their proper functioning is necessary for informed decision-making, and a requirement for all States that ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Adequate funding is key to this proper functioning.
However, European governments and authorities keep deprioritising it:
- The Finnish Disability Forum’s budget was cut by the government in 2024. The government originally only granted 25.000 euros, a mere 17% of the funding requested by the Finnish Disability Forum. Authorities granted an extra 43.000 euros after intense political pressure. However, this funding does not even cover the salary of a full-time staff member.
- In Sweden, organisations of persons with disabilities, and civil society in general, are fighting funding cuts, with some political parties applying pressure to take away the main funding for projects of organisations of persons with disabilities. Funding for youth organisations, including organisations of young persons with disabilities, was cut by one-sixth to levels as low as in 2011.
These are just two examples in a trend spanning almost the entire Europe.
As a disability rights advocate working in Sweden stated: "In these times of regression on disability rights in many sectors, the need for stable and sustainable funding is more important than ever."
Not only are organisations of persons with disabilities affected, but so are two other vital sectors: services that support persons with disabilities, and the wider civil society:
- Access to services and support enables persons with disabilities to fully participate in public life and defend their rights.
- The support of the broader civil society guarantees our rights advance in all spheres of life – from climate action to social issues and beyond.
Therefore, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we call on the European Union and its member states to reverse the trend of defunding our organisations and civil society.
We call on European Union Institutions to:
- Strengthen funding for European and national organisations of persons with disabilities in the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
- Reverse all restrictions and guarantee funding for the wider civil society movement, including for advocacy that supports citizens’ interests.
- Enhance actions to support civil society: recommit to the European Cross-Border Associations (ECBA) Directive; establish a monitoring and alert mechanism, which would monitor civic space restrictions and allow for a quick response; protect Human Rights Defenders and organisations under attack through financial, legal and psycho-social support.
We call on the European Union and European countries to reverse the trend of defunding and restricting the activities of organisations with persons with disabilities:
- Establish a legal mechanism that ensures appropriate and stable funding for persons with disabilities.
- Guarantee that organisations of persons with disabilities are appropriately involved at all levels of decision-making.
- Ensure proper funding for support and services for persons with disabilities, and guarantee no undue restrictions to their participation in political and public life.
