The European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (abbreviated: EASPD), based in Brussels, Belgium, is an
umbrella organization
An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...
that represents approximately 17,000 support service providers for
persons with disabilities
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...
from 33 European countries at a European level.
History
EASPD was founded in 1996 with 5 partners.
As the organisation began to grow, it held its first conference in 1999 in Dublin, Ireland, the topic being “Partnership— the key to quality services”.
By 2001, EASPD represented 5,000 services, and had become a member of European
NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
s Social Platform and ECAS (
Euro Citizen Advice Service
The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 100 ...
), and had signed cooperation agreements with IASSID and Inclusion Europe.
Over the next 10 years, EASPD continued to grow, and until now has built a network that currently represents over 17.000 support services for persons with disabilities and their families all over Europe.
The services represented cover the entire life cycle of the individual and include early intervention, education, employment, housing, leisure, culture, day-care, elder and residential support services.
In 2011 EASPD, together with Eurodiaconia, Workability Europe, EPR,
Solidar
SOLIDAR is a European network of NGOs working to advance social justice in Europe and worldwide. SOLIDAR voices the concerns of its member organisations to the EU and international institutions across the policy sectors of social affairs, inte ...
,
FEANTSA, CEDAG, Caritas (joined later), and the
Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
(joined later) launched Social Services Europe, a European platform for
not for profit
A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives.
While not-for-profit organizations and non-profit organizations (NP ...
providers of
health
Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
and
social services
Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...
. In 2013 EASPD was accredited as NGO to the Conference of States Parties to the
, and launched its first "Employment for All" Award. By 2015, EASPD represented over 12,000 service providers, became a member of EDF, and entered into a partnership with the
Zero Project
The Zero Project is a non-profit based in Vienna, Austria, which focuses on researching and sharing innovative solutions that support the rights of people with disabilities globally. Zero Project publishes an annual report of innovative solution ...
.
In 2016 EASPD moved its headquarters to Rue du Commerce, Handelsstraat in Brussels and elected its current president, James Crowe. In 2017, EASPD launched their second
website
A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...
, socialinvetment.eu, to help social service providers get better loans through the EU Investment Plan and the
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...
.
In January 2018, EASPD launched its new multiannual Strategy "Commit!" to support its work.
In 2024, EASPD once again transferred its headquarters, this time to Avenue des Nerivens, near its old location in Avenue d'Auderghem.
Logos
EASPD Presidents
* 1996 - 1997 Marie-Claire Rens of F.I.S.S.A.A.J Belgium
*1997 - 1999 Roger Acton Director of Disability Federation Ireland
* 1999 - 2005 Luk Zelderloo of Tau-groep Belgium
* 2005 - 2008 Brian O'Donnell CEO of the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies Ireland
* 2008 - 2016 Franz Wolfmayr President of Steierische Behindertenhilfe Dachverband Austria
* 2016- Present James Crowe, UK
References
External links
EASPD WebsiteEASPD: ''Zehn bewährte Verfahren zur Beschäftigungsförderung von Menschen mit Behinderung''{Dead link, date=May 2025 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes (englischsprachige Version
Ilja Seifert: ''Die Europäische Strategie zugunsten von Menschen mit Behinderungen als Instrument zur Umsetzung des UNCRPD: Auswirkungen auf die Politik der EU und der nationalen Ebene'' Sprachendienst des
Deutscher Bundestag, Deutschen Bundestags. 3. Mai 2012
Organisations based in Belgium
Organizations established in 1996