The 2024 edition of the European Day of Persons with Disabilities conference is taking place in Brussels on 28-29 November 2024

The annual conference ‘European Day of Persons with Disabilities’ (EDPD) is hosted by the European Commission in partnership with the European Disability Forum.

The conference is part of the EU’s wider efforts to raise awareness and tackle everyday challenges faced by persons with disabilities. It is an occasion to mainstream disability issues in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities 2021-2030.

This two days of thought-provoking and engaging debate marks the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and brings together voices from a wide range of backgrounds with different expertise and stories to share, including policymakers, high-level experts, representatives from international and European institutions and disability advocates.

Programme

This year's annual conference to celebrate the European Day of Persons with Disabilities comes at a very important time.

Following the European elections in June, the new European Parliament will be constituted, and the new European Commission is expected to set out new political priorities, including in the field of disability, which will coincide in time with the implementation of the second phase of the European Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities.

The EDPD conference will present an opportunity to have an in-depth forward looking discussion on the strategic objectives, policy proposals, and initiatives for the next five years.

We will also address various topics related to all 8 priority areas of the Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities, such as employment, independent living and transport, to name just a few.

As it is now a tradition, the conference also includes the ceremony of the Access City Award contest, to reward EU cities that are making outstanding efforts to become accessible for persons with disabilities. This year will be particularly important, as it marks its 15th anniversary.

To honour this key event, the conference will focus specifically on the issue of accessibility of cities: looking at what has been learned since 2010 and how cities can become more inclusive and accessible.

The meaningful participation of persons with disabilities, inclusive and accessible digitalization of public services and buildings, urban transport and sustainability are among the aspects considered for selecting the award-winning city that will be discussed during this year’s conference.