The Equal Opportunities Centre for Disabled Persons

By parliamentary resolution B 43 of 1993 it was decided to establish an Equal Opportunities Centre for Disabled Persons under the Danish Disability Council. B 43 sets out the task of the Equal Opportunities Centre for Disabled Persons as follows:

”This unit is to collect, initiate and communicate, nationally as well as internationally, the information and expertise required about the situation of disabled people and the effects of particular disabilities. Moreover, the unit is to pay attention to instances where people with disabilities are discriminated against so that the Danish Disability Council can raise the issue with the relevant authority.”

The Centre's tasks

The Equal Opportunities Centre for Disabled Persons is to monitor developments in the equalisation of disabled people and non-disabled people. Moreover the Centre’s task is to draw the authorities’ attention to areas and situations where there are not equal opportunities for disabled people and non-disabled people. The Centre is also to publish information on the subject of equal opportunities for disabled persons in the Danish society.

The Centre is financed by the Danish State and obtains its funds via the Ministry of Social Affairs. The autonomy of the Centre is guaranteed by an independent executive committee made up of an equal number of representatives from the organisations for disabled persons and from the public authorities. The Centre has no formal legal competence but exercises its influence by documenting problems relating to equal opportunities.

The Centre's secretarial function

The Centre was established at the request of the Danish Disability Council and it is in charge of the secretarial function of the Danish Disability Council. The efficiency, competence and argumentation of the Council have also been strengthened considerably by virtue of the documented evidence that the Centre provides. On the basis of this documentation it has become possible, over the years, to establish a dialogue with the relevant authorities on specific solutions to those problems that have been documented. 

The Danish Disability Council

The Danish Disability Council was established in 1980 and is a Government-funded body made up of an equal number of representatives from disabled people (nominated by the DSI, the Danish Council of Organisations of Disabled People) and from public authorities. The Council’s tasks are to monitor the situation of disabled people in society and to act as an advisory body to Government and Parliament on issues relating to disability policy. The Council can take initiatives and propose changes in areas affecting the life of disabled people and their living conditions, and all central authorities are expected to take the Council’s advice in these matters.

Section 87 of the Danish Act on Due Process of Law and Administration in the Social Area is the Danish Disability Council’s working basis. The Ministry of Social Affairs appoints the chairman of the Council. In order to strengthen the professionalism of the Council a number of people with special expert knowledge from various sectors are attached to the Council. This composition of the Council ensures wide scope of knowledge and experience concerning disability policy.

More about the Danish Disability Council