The Work Forum on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities met in Brussels on 29 April 2015. The Forum brought together representatives of those responsible for implementing and monitoring the implementation of the UN Disability Convention, both at European and national level; these are focal points, coordination mechanisms and monitoring mechanisms. Civil society and disabled people’s organizations also actively participate in the Work Forum. The Work Forum aimed at ensuring that the disability treaty is fully implemented. It allowed to share experiences on its practical implementation and monitoring and to promote solutions to common challenges. It is organized by the European Commission and meets every year since 2010. The implementation of the UN Convention is a shared task: both the European Commission and the vast majority of its Member States are parties to the disability rights treaty and they implement it within their respective competences. Within the frame of the Forum, a roundtable was organized with the theme: “Improving synergies between the EU and the national level in the implementation of the UN Convention”. Discussants included the author, Lucian Agafitei from Eurostat and Roberta Crialesi from the National Statistical Authority of Italy (Istat). The following text summarizes the author’s remarks and contributions to this discussion, highlights challenges in data collection on disability and advocates for a more active role of civil society in policy surveillance and monitoring.
