He Council of Ministers has approved an institutional declaration by the National Day of the International Convention on the Rights of People with United Nations Disabilitieswhich will be held on May 3. Pablo Bustinduy, Minister of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030and José Manuel Albares, Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, have promoted the adoption of said declaration in commemoration of this date and aimed at promoting respect for human rights treaties ratified by Spain as well as to make visible the transformative potential of the Convention.
The statement is called to continue advancing in rights for People with disabilitieshighlighting the reform of article 49 of the Spanish Constitution that was approved at the beginning of the year 2024 and that makes a specific reference to promoting universally accessible environments.+
promote full personal autonomy and social inclusion of people with disabilities
Regulatory change requires public authorities to “promote policies that guarantee full personal autonomy and social inclusion of People with disabilities«, Is explicit in the statement. In this way, and through this statement, the government of Spain expresses its commitment to people with disabilities and the purpose of “guaranteeing the social inclusion of people with disabilities is marked, in universally accessible environments.”
The declaration highlights the work that the Government is carrying out in the field of disability and indicates that their initiatives “are aimed at transforming our landscape at the root, so that accessibility is practicable to all people without exceptions”, as well as to meet the objectives set by the Spanish Strategy on Disability 2022-2030. Likewise, the investment in accessibility by the Government is valued with “determination to continue incorporating accessibility as a transversal principle to access to public services, housing, education, health or culture.”
The Government of Pedro Sánchez launches different initiatives in favor of people with disabilities
In coherence with the mandates of the International Convention on the Rights of People with United Nations Disabilities and of article 49 of the Spanish Constitution, the Government has launched different initiatives, among which are:
- The II National Universal Accessibility Plan that recognizes universal accessibility as a condition that all environments, products, goods and services must meet so that they can be used and enjoyed by all people. Plan approved at the end of 2023 for the 2023-2032 period, it has a budgetary endowment close to 85 million euros.
- The reform of the rights of persons with disabilities and promotion of personal autonomy and attention to people in dependency, to adapt them to the renewed article 49 of the Spanish Constitution.
- The Royal Decree project regulates the accessible labeling of consumer products, to provide more autonomy and security to people with disabilities in daily activities.
- Recovery, transformation and resilience: Spain has been the only country in the European Union that has allocated about 200 million euros (Next Generation EU funds), so that accessibility is practicable to all people without exceptions.
Once all these proposals have been collected, we must take into account if the government is able to carry them out.
