ESCIF 2020
Newsletter January 2020
Dear colleagues
Not only did we start a new year, but we entered a new decade in 2020. The 1920’s are often referred to as the “Golden twenties” because this interwar period witnessed a flourishing economic situation in Europe. Maybe the 2020 decade can correspond to the golden age for our community and can symbolise a shift into a more promising future for people with SCI and disabled people. We at ESCIF will certainly assure this change.
We think that this is a good starting point to have the first congress in this decade about the UN disability rights convention. Indeed, this convention enables developing opportunities and tools for countries in order to ensure a better world for people with SCI and a brighter future for all of us. We hope that this opportunity will certainly open up new thoughts and approaches for improving the situation of people with SCI.
ESCIF Congress in Nottwil from 6th to 8th May 2020
We are proud to have a number of high ranking speakers from various countries across Europe at this year’s congress (see Attached program). During the Congress participants will learn how the CRPD should be implemented and how organisations, such as ESCIF and its member organisations, can participate in governmental processes related to the CRPD. Furthermore, practical examples of the impact of the CRPD to rehabilitation needs of disabled persons and an example of a court case regarding access to public transport will be presented. Finally, a workshop on different topics related to the CRPD will be held. After the workshop, a paper summarizing the outcome will be available on the ESCIF homepage.
The congress is open to anyone who has an interest in spinal cord injury and disability rights. Also, we invite the delegates of the ESCIF member organisations to participate in the assembly of delegates. It is important to hear the voices of all member organisations in order to shape the future of ESCIF according to the member’s needs.
Registration deadline for the congress and assembly is extended until 29th of February 2020. Please register on the following website: www.escifcongress.org
New board member
As previously announced in the last Newsletter and if the suggestion is accepted by the assembly, ESCIF is searching for an additional member to join the executive board. Recommendations of candidates from organisations can be made until the 11th of March 2020. Also, all proposals to the assembly of delegates have to be sent until the 11th of March 2020. Please send the documents to Albert Marti on the following email address: secretary@escif.org
Member’s input
Member’s Input at the congress can be a presentation of your organisation’s interesting project, event, debate, past, ongoing or coming issue. The form of the member's input is quite open and can be a 10 minutes oral session or a poster. Please send your members input, no later than the 11th of March 2020 to Nuutti Hiltunen on the following email address: nuutti.hiltunen@escif.org
New FACEBOOK page
We are unfortunately forced to stop using our old Facebook profile because we were not able to acquire the administration rights. As a consequence, we have decided to create a new one and to ensure for the future that we will have the administration rights. This is the reason why you might have noticed our new ESCIF Facebook page. We will start making a bigger effort to market and share this page. Please help us and share the new Facebook page on the following link: New ESCIF Facebook
ISCoS
The ISCoS 2019 took place in the beautiful city of Nice, located in southern France. During the congress, I witnessed several good and different keynotes speakers as well as workshops. Furthermore, there were also interesting meetings with other international consumer organisations, where the foundation for future collaboration took place. Also, ISCoS has shown interest in increasing collaboration with consumer networks such as ESCIF. The ISCoS 2020 will be in Japan.
For the Executive Board - Stefan Opresnik Jorlev - ESCIF President
CANCELLATION of the ESCIF Congress 2020 in Nottwil
Dear ESCIF Colleagues!
Unfortunate due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) we have to cancel the ESCIF Congress the 6th-8th of May 2020 in Nottwil, Switzerland.
This is of course very sad on so many levels. But it is a good thing that we take this virus seriously and take care of each other!
This cancellation raises some questions regarding payment, next congress, the yearly assembly and a lot more, which we do not have the full overview of yet.
We will send out information as soon as we know more and can answer most questions.
Sincerely
Stefan Opresnik Jorlev
ESCIF President