Conference: “Anche noi cittadini e cittadine”. Twenty years since the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD): Assessments, Challenges, and Future Perspectives, Padova, 4 december 2026
On the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006-2026)
Professionals, lecturers, and representatives of the third sector, chaired by Prof. Marco Mascia, will contribute to the discussion in order to understand the impact and the prospects offered by the Convention in social policies and in public awareness, with a perspective ranging from the international to the local level.
Although two full decades have gone by since its entry into force, the Convention still represents a landmark. Its groundbreaking character lies in having universally shared a conception of disability that rejects the assistance-based and medicalized approach and promotes self-determination and full inclusion in society.
Nothing about us without us
Nulla su di noi senza di noi
This motto, which has become one of the symbols of the international movement for the rights of persons with disabilities, evokes the demands for self-determination, participation in community life, and independent living that helped inspire the Convention.
The UN Convention, in fact, does not introduce new rights, but strongly affirms that fundamental and inalienable human rights also belong to persons with disabilities, and it commits the States that have ratified it, including Italy, to remove all barriers, physical and non-physical, that hinder full and effective participation in the life of society.
The program and all the information for participating in the Conference and the events offered during the day are available on the website of the Fondazione Oggi e Domani.
The event is open to the whole community and will be an opportunity for in-depth exploration, reflection, and discussion. Admission will be free, in a room that is also accessible to persons with moving disabilities, with a maximum capacity of 130 seats. A live broadcast will be available on the YouTube Channel of the “Antonio Papisca” University Human Centre. The event will be subtitled and simultaneously interpreted into LIS (Italian Sign Language).
The initiative was born out of the collaboration of local stakeholders committed to promoting the rights of persons with disabilities, with the aim of bringing to the public discourse at the local level a reflection on the path traveled so far and the ongoing challenges.
The initiative is promoted by: Fondazione Oggi e Domani; Centro di Ateneo per i Diritti Umani “Antonio Papisca”; Fish Veneto - Federazione italiana per il superamento dell'handicap; OPSA – Opera della Provvidenza di S. Antonio; ANFFAS Padova - Associazione Nazionale di Famiglie e Persone con disabilità intellettive e disturbi del neurosviluppo; Rete Patto per lo sviluppo di un Nuovo Welfare per la disabilità.