30.11.1999

Preface

The National Council on Disability is a cooperative body of administration and persons with disabilities. The goal of the Council is to promote equality and the opportunities to participate in decision-making of the society. This goal is sought by bringing the needs of persons with disabilities to the awareness of the administration and by evaluating the solutions provided by the administration from the perspective of persons with disabilities.

The UN initiative has comprised the cooperation between different groups of persons with disabilities and the administration into an action programme on disability policy. The process of programme preparation has been long and rewarding. It has coincided with a time of major change in society; these changes have affected both directly and indirectly the well-being of citizens with disabilities. Had this programme not been prepared, many interesting and important topics of discussion would not have been taken up. The action programme has received both praise and criticism from within and outside the Council. The praise has often been about how it emphasizes the contribution of persons with disabilities themselves. The criticism again has been about the overemphasis on the disability perspective and lack of the concrete.

This is a national programme. This is a theoretical and goal-oriented programme. Alongside this one we need regional and local action programmes on disability policy. The organizations of persons with disabilities have been able to monitor its preparation and influence the contents through seminars, providing opinions and through their own representatives. The government representatives have for their part given their valuable and diverse expertise towards the completion of the programme, but the programme has not been submitted for their opinion. The programme's realization in practice will require a large amount of cooperation in the future.

The initiative for drawing up this action programme on disability policy came from the National Council on Disability. The UN Standard Rules for the Equalization of Opportunities to Persons with Disabilities provided a good basis for this programme. The UN expects measures to be taken to bring these Standard Rules to the national level and will monitor their implementation in different countries. The National Council on Disability hopes that this action programme can for its part act as a guide and a tool in the development of the Finnish society for all.

Liisa Kauppinen, president