AKEL MEP G. Georgiou elected Vice-President of the European Parliament’s Disability Intergroup
Press Statement by AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou
13th February 2020
AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou has today been elected Vice-President of the European Parliament’s all-party Disability Intergroup. The group is made up of MEP’s from all Political Groups and aims to promote a strategy for a holistic approach to the problems people with disabilities face on a daily basis, ensuring a quality of life for all.
In his first statement as Vice-President of the group, Giorgos Georgiou noted that, unfortunately, in many member states, including Cyprus as well, people with disabilities are treated as second-class citizens and as a result their rights are not safeguarded. As he characteristically stated, there are serious shortcomings in structures providing support for care, but also in policies for the integration of people with disabilities into society.
The AKEL MEP also stressed that people with disabilities are the first victims of austerity policies and cuts, which is why they are being led to poverty. For that reason, he proposed that the rest of the members of the Intergroup prioritize the promotion and implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by all member states and to work together to ensure that the new European Disability Strategy (2020- 2030) will be enhanced significantly, offering real solutions to the problems facing people with disabilities.
At the Intergroup meeting, in addition to the election of the new presidium, the main objectives of the group, as well as the 2020 action plan were approved.
