The online event “The Recovery and Resilience Facility as a means to creating community and family-based care”, which took place on the 18th of November 2021, aimed to provide an overview of the opportunities and the risks that the Recovery and Resilience Facility might fuel within the European Union.
In 2021, the EEG has been monitoring the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), its investments for social resilience and recovery since out of the six pillars of the RRF most of them aim at inclusive growth; social cohesion; health & social resilience; and policies for future generations. The Expert Group publicly called for the EU and its Member States to commit to investing this money into deinstitutionalisation (DI) as well as in community-based services, and strictly forbidding any investments in institutions. The EEG also has been reiterating the higher impact of the pandemic on people residing in institutions.
Moderated by Haydn Hammersley, Social Policy Officer at the European Disability Forum and EEG co-chair, the event gathered almost 70 representatives from ministries of different countries, the European Commission and national and European civil society organisations.
The meeting opened with a video message by Commissioner Helena Dalli in which she highlighted that the RRF must respect the principles of gender equality and equal opportunities for all. She also encouraged Member States to put in place an inclusive process to monitor the implementation of the National Recovery Plans by including NGOs active in the area of equality and inclusion. She concluded with the following call: “Let us all contribute to a Union of Equality”.
At the beginning of the event, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities Gerard Quinn, has also stressed the fundamental role of the European Union as world leader in the implementation of deinstitutionalization policies (read full speech).
The event showed that the RRF truly represents a once-in-a-life occasion to boost the process of deinstitutionalisation and that these funds need to be carefully monitored in their use. Attendees also got insights in various NRRPs such as those of Romania, Portugal and Greece.
The EEG provided several examples of concrete projects which introduce indicators for monitoring of DI progress, promote housing initiatives and support young people entering into adulthood out of residential homes, including people with disabilities and homeless people.
Read the full report to find out how these funds can support deinstitutionalisation in Europe
The European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care 