Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, félags- og vinnumarkaðsráðherra:

Ladies and gentlemen and all those outside of these two categories.

It is a pleasure to be with you here today, and to open this Nordic Network on Disability Research conference. This forum for Nordic and international collaboration in disability studies brings together researchers, policy makers, activists, and practitioners to share their findings, best practices and knowledge regarding the life and experience of people with disabilities. 

It is invaluable to have a strong forum to be able to share and learn from one another, but not least to be able to combine our efforts, set new benchmarks and work together to raise the awareness of issues regarding disability.

I am honored to say that I know the first keynote speaker, Rannveig Traustadóttir professor emerita. I know, as well as all of us here today, how invaluable it is to have a scholar, an idealist, and a fighter like Rannveig Traustadóttir amongst us. She is, of course, a world-renowned scholar within the disability community, but you should also know that she has had a major influence here in Iceland and has been a crucial figure in establishing an academic community within the field of disability studies, supporting disability rights activists, and, most importantly, she has been tireless in pointing out how the government could do better when it comes to the development and implementation of services for people with disabilities. 

I was fortunate enough to meet her soon after I took office, and we had a very impactful and practical meeting that I have been able to profit on in my capacity as Minister of Disability Rights.

Over the past 50 years we have seen profound changes in the lives of disabled people, but there is still a way to go when it comes to equal human rights between those with and without disabilities. People with disabilities are often the last group to achieve an actual level of protection of their human rights, regardless of the general level of human rights or economic situation within states. 

With society’s tendency to view people with disabilities as “problems” and in a way “lesser than”, the human rights protection of people with disabilities has been undermined for decades. 

With the recent shift in focus, away from viewing disability as a defect or an abnormality towards the recognition that disability is part of the diversity of human life and a human rights perspective, we are now gradually (I know way too slow!) but still, gradually moving towards a society that is truly inclusive.

As Iceland works towards ensuring human rights and dignity for people with disabilities, we face new challenges and opportunities. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified in Iceland in 2016 and is to be incorporated into Icelandic law next year.

The Ministry of social affairs and labor is now constructing, in a wide collaboration with all relevant parties such as municipalities, NGOs and public institutions, a national plan to implement the Convention. 

The national plan will become the government’s main instrument when it comes to policy making, as its main objective is to realize all the articles of the Convention. Therefore, the national plan will bring about a real and fundamental change in terms of the recognition and fulfilment of the rights of people with disabilities. 

This year, Iceland holds the presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Our common vision is to make the Nordic countries the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. This entails making the Nordic countries as socially sustainable as possible, including an emphasis on common values such as robust health care, equity, democracy, equality, and social welfare.

It is a privilege to have opportunities such as the ones I now have as a member of the government and I intend to make the most of my time. The opportunity that I now have, I intend to use to strengthen the welfare system in Iceland. In that context, I will mention three things:

1. Reforming the disability pension scheme to improve the employment opportunities for people with varying levels of ability, and to improve the standard of living for people with disabilities. 

2. Opening the labor market to greater diversity, in which people with disabilities, immigrants and those who have simply lost their footing in one way or another are given genuine opportunities and appropriate employment; and 

3. Launching a long overdue improvement in the services for the elderly, built on the integration of the health and social services. 

In this work, I aim to hold the fight against poverty and loneliness in society at the forefront. 

But government and official organizations cannot do this alone, and should not do this alone, and are certainly not doing this alone. We need powerful NGOs and grassroot organizations to help us, open our eyes and ears and to be a leading force on our journey towards equality and human rights for everyone. We are fortunate here in Iceland to have very active and involved organizations of interests when it comes to disability issues, and I am grateful for our collaboration and co-creation.

As I stand here, opening what I believe is the largest Nordic disability research conference to date, with a few hundred presentations lined up, addressing a wide range of perspectives to the study of disability, the importance and impact of the academic community on the development of disability issues is evident. Disability studies have challenged society’s views of disability and provided us with evidence-based data on which to build our policies and practices. 

As I reiterate my thanks for the opportunity to address you here at the beginning of the 16th Nordic Network on Disability Research conference, I wish you an effective and rewarding couple of days, and trust that our people, both from the stakeholders and from within the administration, will gain even more tools to use on our joint journey towards guaranteeing the human rights of people with disabilities. The time is now!