Beeinträchtigung – Behinderung – Teilhabe für alle: Neue Berichterstattung der Bundesregierung zur Teilhabe im Licht der Behindertenrechtskonvention der Vereinten Nationen

The new Federal Government’s Report on Participation explores the contexts in which impairments become disabilities for those individuals who experience them. In parallel, it outlines the factors that foster inclusion and opportunities to act for everyone in society – despite existing impairments. From a sociopolitical and health policy perspective, disability refers to unequal opportunities based on impairment. Hence, the focus here is on the equalisation of these participation opportunities to match those of the entire population – but always from differentiated perspectives on the various social arenas. The human rights approach stresses protection against discrimination as well as dignity and self-determination for all. From a human resources angle, the emphasis is on the performance of individuals in favourable conditions and the attainment of personal goals within their actual everyday circumstances. The new reporting concept is indebted to these perspectives and thus focuses on individual life circumstances, while referring to the WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) – an approach now validated on a global scale. Therefore, it does not only report on measures provided by services for persons with disabilities but, more crucially, investigates determinants on the personal and environmental levels, unequal opportunities and the interdependency between context and competence for particular sections of the population. Two groups are singled out in the process: elderly persons and individuals with mental health impairments. The participation report is part of the National Action Plan to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). An independent scientific committee conceptualises the design of the report while accompanying and commenting upon its realisation. Currently, a second federal report on participation is emerging from the new concept.