The opening of a new working cycle often brings an opportunity to let new people let their voice be heard. Usually, those with more experience in working with issues for the blindness and partial sight community can make the most out of their capacities by collaborating with innovative perspectives coming from representatives of the younger generations.
That was the general feeling among the representatives of our National Members after the Board Elections that took place in the context of our 12th General Assembly in Lisbon two months ago. Our delegates placed their trust in people like Jakob Rosin (Estonia), Anja Uršič (Slovenia) or Kevin Kelly (Ireland), who clearly embody the freshness coming from young advocates eager to bring positive changes for people with visual impairment.
In this sense, Anja stated that “youth can be a powerful agent of change in the promotion of the rights of blind and partially sighted people by leveraging technological skills, social media influence, passion for inclusivity, and collaborative mindset to drive positive impact on both a local and global scale”. As said in the introduction, this can be successfully combined with the tools provided by those who are more experienced in campaigning for our rights. Francesca Sbianchi, EBU’s Youth Network Coordinator, is a living example of that. “I experimented this solution when organizing an EBU youth meeting in Cyprus in 2022”, Francesca underlines. “I found the cooperation with Christakis Nikolaides, the President of the Pancyprian Organization of the Blind, very fruitful and complementary”, she adds.
Apart from the networking benefits, having younger people with visual impairment on our board can also help with raising awareness of the community’s main concerns across Europe. One of their foremost claims is their right to accessible education as enshrined by article 24 of the UNCRPD. “We need to bring inclusive education everywhere and make it equal across the EU”, Jakob states. “If we can’t educate people who are blind or partially sighted, we’re already trapping those individual human beings behind an educational barrier, not giving them the skills and knowledge they need to be their own geniuses”, he adds. This, of course, includes working towards removing obstacles in EU- programmes such as ERASMUS+. In this sense, Anja pinpoints the notable lack of students in Slovenia who opt for choosing to not participating in this initiative.
Both Anja and Jakob also agree that, as a consequence, the lack of accommodation in education has a negative impact on their professional career choices, thus depriving them from fulfilling their potential. At the same time, we must not forget that young people with visual impairment also find barriers in their access to the labour market, often facing negative stereotypes in recruitment processes and coping with workplaces which lack inclusive features. Apart from education and employment, Francesca adds that the youngest members from the blindness and partial sight communities across Europe also underline their lack of representativity when key decisions are made (a point which was included in our 2022 EBU Manifesto of young European citizens with visual impairment).
In addition to the previously listed issues, technological advances have brought forward new opportunities, but also new obstacles for people with visual impairment. However, this is an area where young blind and partially sighted persons can make their contribution as most of them have grown in parallel with the appearance of digital applications and Social Media. Through channels such as Facebook, Instagram, X or YouTube, as well as by participating in webinars and online workshops, they can raise awareness of the importance of setting digital accessibility standards while also calling for more inclusive features in the beforementioned platforms.
With a scenario full of issues to be solved, the upcoming European Parliament Elections are an excellent opportunity for younger generations of blind and partially people to make their voice heard about the barriers they face in key areas of life. To do so, the new EP should not only take measures aimed at empowering the blindness and partial sight community while facing barriers in their daily lives, but also try to lead by example in the area of political participation. In other words, promote the concept of active citizenship under the principles of accessibility, equality and inclusion for all and, therefore, reach a scenario where the claims of persons with visual impairment are taken into account.