Participation Day - 28 March 2011

The Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission hosted a Participation Day on 28 March to raise awareness of the Convention. The event brought together over two hundred disabled people across Scotland and those working with or for disabled people’s organisations who wanted to learn more about the Convention, and be involved in making it a reality. Facilitated discussions took place in Inverness, Oban and Inverurie, and more people joined in the debate online from their homes and offices. Inclusion Scotland and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations also supported the event.

The real life experiences that participants shared will form part of the evidence that the Commissions will submit to the United Nations under theindependent monitoring role.

The full report from the Participation Day is available to read.

Independent Living in Scotland

Independent living for disabled people is about human rights. This includes the protection and promotion of human rights. Historically some of the worst breaches of disabled people’s human rights have been when choice and control are removed. This can result in loss of dignity and freedom. The Commission works closely with the Independent Living in Scotland team and took part in the Independent Living in Scotland Festival in February 2011.

You can listen to an interview with Jim Elderwoodward, Conveneor of the Independent Living in Scotland Reference Group, where the history of the Independent Living Movement is discussed.

http://scottishhumanrights.com/ourwork/Jim_ElderWoodward.mp3 Download Jim_ElderWoodward.mp3 ​

Download Jim_ElderWoodward.mp3

The Commission has also submitted evidence to the UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry into Indepenent Living.

Joint event - January 2010

In January 2010, the Commission co-hosted an awareness raising and involvement event on the Convention with the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The event was supported by the Scottish Government and the UK Government Office for Disability Issues and was attended by over 90 individuals and organisations. The full report of the event is available to download in PDF. 

There is also an 'Easy Read' version of the report available to download in Word formator PDF format.