World Congress to empower people with intellectual disabilities

September 15, 2025 / 6:39 PM

Sharjah 24; At the World Congress 2025 ‘We Are Inclusion’ currently ongoing in Sharjah, advocates, service providers, family members, and those with lived experience joined a powerful session on “Doing Deinstitutionalisation: Closing Institutions and Living in the Community,” led by Milan Šveřepa, Director of Inclusion Europe, aiming to move beyond talk into real change.

Šveřepa, who has been steering Inclusion Europe through decades of advocacy work including managing the transition from institutional care to community-based support systems in Central and Eastern Europe, and has been a long-time champion for the rights of people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

Milan said: “There are so many people with intellectual disabilities segregated in care institutions. Just in Europe, 750,000 people with intellectual disabilities must live in Institutions with 30 and more people in one place. 39,000 live in psychiatric hospitals.” The figures make it clear that these are lives, not statistics.

“We already know how to support people with disabilities to live independently in the community”, he further noted, highlighting the vital role of positive political will and resource allocation will play to turn this into a reality.

Throughout the session, the human angle was emphasised as much as the policy. Those who have spent time in segregation, Šveřepa argued, are not just witnesses but guides to what positive change must look like. “We need to make sure the voices of people who have spent time in such facilities are heard and their stories are told,” he said.

Deinstitutionalisation is not an endless or mysterious process, Šveřepa pointed out. Countries across Europe and beyond have made them redundant, and many community-based services already exist. Families are providing the majority of support at home. “Most people with intellectual disabilities are already supported in their homes by family members,” he noted. “The next big step will be to start investing in inclusion.”

One of the strongest refrains of the session was that inclusive communities are not just possible, they are beneficial for everyone. Šveřepa argued that doing so will not just ensure people are able to enjoy their rights, but also shape societies that work better for all.

World Congress 2025 "We Are Inclusion" continues in Sharjah until 17 September, bringing together more than 500 participants from 74 countries, including 152 speakers representing 160 organisations, across 59 parallel sessions. Held for the first time in the MENA region and North Africa, the Congress is a leading global platform for sharing best practices and advancing the rights and inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities. It is co-organised by Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services and Inclusion International, and in strategic partnership with the Sharjah Government Media Bureau.