To mark the European Day of Protest for the Equality of People with Disabilities, ASH Berlin and the Institute for Disability & Participation (IB&P) of the General Association of Disabled People in Germany (ABiD) organized a public panel discussion on 6 May 2025. The topic of the event was: "A new start for inclusion - What do we expect from the new federal government?".
After an introductory greeting from Prof. Dr. Bettina Völter, President of ASH Berlin, experts from politics and civil society discussed the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) in Germany and Europe. Prof. Dr. Sigrid Arnade (Interessenvertretung Selbstbestimmt Leben in Deutschland - ISL), Marcus Graubner (Chairman of ABiD), Dr. Karsten Lippmann (Chairman of IB&P) and Prof. Dr. Rebecca Maskos (Disability Studies, ASH Berlin) were represented on the panel.
The following is a summary of the comments made by the panel participants themselves.
Lippmann: Hopeful skepticism
For Dr. Karsten Lippmann, "the day was unplanned in terms of the new chancellorship, as Friedrich Merz was elected chancellor by parliament that very afternoon and Sören Pellmann (chairman of the parliamentary group Die Linke) was therefore unable to take part in the panel discussion". Judging by the text of the coalition agreement, he sees reason for "hopeful skepticism". "The panel agreed that inclusion does not need a "new start", but rather a start in the first place. If this is the case, it is the task of all those involved to move the topic forward constructively. However, we must be skeptical as to whether the coalition agreement provides a good basis for this: It operates too much with vague declarations of intent on the subject of inclusion. For example, it can be seen as positive that the coalition partners refer positively to the UN CRPD. However, it is negative when, shortly afterwards, they promise WfbM (workshops for disabled people) and residential homes access to funding from the IKF. This blatantly contradicts the goal of inclusion and therefore the UN CRPD."
Arnade: Not a well-intentioned recommendation, but applicable law
Prof. Dr. Sigrid Arnade agreed with this: "It cannot be about a new start inclusion as long as there has not been a first start inclusion. We have been waiting in vain for this so far, even though Germany committed to it over 16 years ago with the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). After all, the UN CRPD is not just a well-intentioned recommendation, but applicable law. It is not just us as affected people who are disappointed by the extensive standstill in terms of inclusion. During Germany's last state review before the UN Committee of Experts in Geneva in early fall 2023, the committee members were also outraged that a rich country like Germany was doing so little to meet the requirements of the UN CRPD. Accordingly, the "Concluding Observations", which represent the review report or homework for the coming years, so to speak, contain clear demands on Germany: private providers of goods and services must also be obliged to provide accessibility and reasonable accommodation. Protection against violence, especially for girls and women with disabilities, should be improved. Above all, there must be a focus on deinstitutionalization, i.e. the dismantling of special institutions, in the areas of housing, education and work.
What we are seeing in Germany is the opposite: special schools are being built. As long as the expensive special school system is maintained, there cannot be enough resources available for good inclusive education. The new coalition agreement, which only contains a few vague statements on inclusion, becomes specific when it comes to exclusion: money from the equalization fund is to be made available for workshops for disabled people (WfbM) and residential facilities, i.e. for exclusion structures. We are therefore more concerned with counteracting regression than being able to launch pioneering initiatives towards inclusion. The UN CRPD introduced the human rights model of disability. Students at ASH Berlin should understand the differences between the medical, social and human rights models of disability and consider their own future role. The issue of power in the relationship between disabled people and social work professionals is of crucial importance."
Maskos: Inclusion as a human rights issue
Prof. Dr. Rebecca Maskos added: "Central demands that the disability movement has been making for decades have not been included in the coalition agreement. It seems as if the relevance of the issue of disability has been completely ignored in the coalition negotiations. This dethematization of disability is not new. Disabled people are often constructed as "the others", as a small minority or marginalized group with needs and concerns that do not affect the majority. This ignores the fact that, firstly, disabled people are a very large "fringe group" - at least one in ten people in a society has a disability, and in Germany the figure is currently even higher at 13 million. Secondly, this idea ignores the fact that disability affects us all sooner or later in our lives, at the latest in old age. Issues such as accessibility in the private sector, protection against violence in institutions or inclusive disaster control in times of climate change should be of interest to us all, but they are not mentioned in the coalition agreement, or only insufficiently.
With Disability Studies, ASH Berlin represents an approach that discusses disability from the perspective of a social model and thus addresses inclusion as a human rights issue and a real cross-sectional task. Research and teaching that incorporate the experiences of disabled people help to raise awareness among future specialists. Other universities should follow this example, including in courses of study that initially have nothing to do with "social issues" but are highly relevant to the topic of disability - for example architecture, medicine and law."
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If you want to take a closer look at the UN CRPD, you should also take a look at the shadow translation by NETZWERK ARTIKEL 3 e.V. as the official German document.
