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Position Paper Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Rights of Deaf Persons in Europe

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Position Paper Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Rights of Deaf Persons in Europe A European Non-Governmental Organisation in official liaison with European Parliament, European Commission and the Council of Europe Position Paper Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the rights of deaf persons in Europe INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................2 RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................................................4 ANNEX I. RIGHT TO ACCESS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION IN NATIONAL SIGN LANGUAGES.............................................................................5 ANNEX II. RIGHT TO HEALTH..................................................................................8 ANNEX III. RIGHT TO WORK AND EMPLOYMENT...................................................11 ANNEX IV. RIGHT TO EDUCATION.........................................................................13 ANNEX V: PROMISING PRACTICES BY NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE DEAF.....14 INTRODUCTION The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges globally. After the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic to Europe in February 2020, the rapid spread of the virus triggered containment measures by the government authorities in all the EU Member States that have had as a consequence the limitation of rights and freedoms of all persons in Europe. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone, especially those infected with the virus. Throughout 2020, a variety of measures have been taken at different levels of governance to prepare, respond and manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they have not been adequate and/or sufficient enough to ensure the safety of persons with disabilities, as required by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) under Article 11 on situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies. Deaf sign language users, as linguistic minorities, have encountered new communicational and environmental barriers as a result of the measures adopted in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of this, the European Union of the Deaf (EUD), as the only supranational organisation representing the rights of deaf people at the European level, has produced this position paper to provide recommendations to policy makers across Europe. These recommendations tackle key aspects so that preparation, response and management of a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, fully respects, protects and fulfils the rights of deaf persons. The recommendations focus on the right to access information and communication in national sign languages (Articles 9 and 21 UN CRPD), the right to health (Article 25), the right to education (Article 24 UN CRPD), and the right to work and employment (Article 27 UN CRPD). Annexes I to IV provide a summary of how and whether the abovementioned rights were ensured in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Annex V provides a list of promising practices that were carried out during the pandemic by National Associations of the Deaf (NADs). The information of these annexes is included in the Report on EUD consultative virtual regional meetings with the National Associations of the Deaf in Europe in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. This report is the result of four regional consultative meetings in Europe at the end of May on the possible human rights violations and disproportionate impact of the pandemic on deaf persons in Europe. During the meetings, EUD collected information from its member organisations (NADs), in 31 countries in Europe. Finally, EUD would like to emphasise that all human rights discussed in this document are strongly interconnected and mutually reinforcing, which means that full realisation of one right needs the realisation of all other rights. For deaf persons across Europe, barriers to the right to access communication and information have meant barriers in the exercise of other rights. For instance, a breach of the right to access information and communication in national sign languages (Articles 9 & 21) ___________________________________________________________________________________ 2 President : Markku Jokinen – Executive Director : Mark Wheatley European Union of the Deaf – Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 26/15 – 1040 Brussels – Belgium www .eud.eu translates in the breach of other rights such as the right to education (Article 24) or health (Article 25). EUD also highlights that while this document focuses on the UN CRPD, all other European and international human rights instruments also apply to deaf persons in Europe. ___________________________________________________________________________________ 3 President : Markku Jokinen – Executive Director : Mark Wheatley European Union of the Deaf – Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 26/15 – 1040 Brussels – Belgium www .eud.eu RECOMMENDATIONS • European countries must place National Associations of the Deaf (NADs) and other representative organisations of persons with disabilities at the core of the decision-making in relation to preparedness and crisis management in situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. As laid down in Articles 4(3) and 33(3) of the UN CRPD, States Parties have the obligation to ensure the effective and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities through their representative organisations, when preparing for or responding to situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, as established in Article 11 of the UN CRPD. For NADs, meaningful consultation must be guaranteed in national sign languages. Organisations of persons with disabilities, including NADs, are the best suited bodies to assess whether the policies that address situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, are UN CRPD compliant and prevent a disproportionate impact on the rights of persons with disabilities; • European countries must ensure that all the relevant information and communication in relation to situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is accessible in national sign languages immediately with no delay and to the same extent as it is accessible in written and spoken languages of a country, in line with Articles 9, 11 and 21 of the UN CRPD. This must be done at all levels of administration, including regional and local levels, and across all policy areas. NADs must be at the centre of assessing the quality of accessibility, and information and communication in national sign languages must be provided automatically, without the need for NADs to make an official request for accessibility; • European countries must ensure that all alternatives to guarantee the right to communication of deaf persons, including face shields and/or transparent masks, safeguard the highest standard of safety during situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When governments implement measures that create barriers for communication of deaf persons (i.e. obligations to wear face covering masks during the COVID-19 pandemic), they must offer alternatives that guarantee the right to communication of deaf persons. These alternatives, such as face shields and/or transparent masks, shall ensure the highest standard of safety of deaf persons, in line with Articles 9, 11 and 21 of the UN CRPD; • European countries must ensure access to in-person and/or remote communication with medical professionals in national sign languages during situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Deaf sign language users must be able to communicate with medical professionals either through safe, free and high quality in-person sign language interpreting and/or video remote interpreting (VRI) services. When VRI services are in place, deaf sign language users must not carry the burden of organising and/or covering the costs of the interpreting services. This should be done in line ___________________________________________________________________________________ 4 President : Markku Jokinen – Executive Director : Mark Wheatley European Union of the Deaf – Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 26/15 – 1040 Brussels – Belgium www .eud.eu with Article 25 of the UN CRPD, with the aim to ensure that every deaf person has equal access to health care services without discrimination; • European countries must ensure that all deaf learners have access to education in national sign languages while ensuring the highest standard of safety in exceptional situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies such as the COVID- 19 pandemic. When distance education is put in place, European countries must ensure that this does not discriminate against deaf learners, including deaf learners living in poverty and/or in disadvantaged areas, and guarantee, when possible, safe in-person education to those who lack the adequate equipment, technology and/or internet access for those unable to follow distance education on an equal basis with others; • European countries must ensure that measures to respond to exceptional situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic do not have a disproportionate impact on deaf persons in employment. All information about work and employment, including exceptional employment income support schemes, must be accessible in national sign languages, so that deaf sign language users benefit equally from the measures put in place by different State authorities; • European countries must ensure that deaf persons in employment are provided and/or continue
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