What exactly does the parallel report entail?

This report presents Unia's findings in the areas covered by the UN Convention. These findings focus on barriers to the inclusion of persons with disabilities, as well as practices, policies or legislation that do not respect their rights. Unia makes 87 recommendations aimed at removing these barriers to inclusion.

In this regard, Unia notes the following:

• public buildings and public spaces, public transport, as well as the media and the internet, are still insufficiently accessible;
• in the event of an acute crisis or disaster (the corona crisis or the floods in 2021), Belgium does not yet have a crisis management plan that takes people with disabilities into account;
• Brussels and Wallonia still follow a logic of funding institutional housing rather than promoting independent living. In general, support services for inclusion are not sufficiently used and valued;
• Belgium has two education systems. Funding for the specific needs of pupils with disabilities largely goes to special education, so parents often have no real free choice of an adapted educational pathway for their child;
• government funding is still mainly focused on employment in adapted work companies and too little funding is allocated to supported employment in mainstream sectors;
• the justice of the peace now has to rule systematically on the voting rights of persons with protection status. A worrying evolution for the political rights of persons with disabilities.

The report clearly shows how the violation of one right also leads to the violation of the other fundamental rights.

How did Unia prepare its parallel report?

Our contribution is based on various sources:

• reports submitted to Unia by individuals or associations;
• the results of Unia's monitoring and recommendation activities;
• our participation in various working groups, commissions, advisory boards;
• reports from the authorities and bodies concerned;
• civil society reports and recommendations;
• the results of the Consultation of people with disabilities (1144 respondents) that Unia carried out on their rights in 2019-2020;
• the results of an additional consultation carried out during the health crisis in 2020.

Our contribution is structured around the List of Points established by the Committee for the submission of the second and third periodic report submitted by Belgium. The responses provided by the Belgian state in its report have been taken into account in order to avoid repetition. This contribution therefore aims to supplement and, where appropriate, qualify this report. We also make a series of recommendations.

In accordance with the collaboration protocol concluded between Unia and Myria, the Federal Migration Centre, Myria contributed to the drafting of this report with regard to those parts related to its areas of action.