The Provincial Federation of Associations of People with Physical and Organic Disabilities of Seville (COCEMFE Seville), with the support of the Provincial Council of Seville, has organised the second meeting with different local governments of rural areas of Seville with a wide representation of people with disabilities among its population, to create alliances and promote the access of this group to new technologies and the wide range of training and resources at transnational level, in order to improve the lives of these people and eliminate the existing digital gap in these areas.
During the online meeting held online last Friday, which was also attended by Andalucía Inclusiva COCEMFE, the president of the Federation, Juan José Lara, invited the representatives of the different governments participating (Alcolea del Río, Castillo de Las Guardas, Cazalla de la Sierra, Castiblanco de los Arroyos, Castilleja del Campo, Almadén de la Plata, Algámitas, Carrión de los Céspedes, Alanís and Guadalcanal), to collaborate in the EU-RUDISNET programme. This is an initiative developed by this organisation together with five other countries (Italy, Turkey, Slovenia, Lithuania and Germany) and aims to create a European network to increase self-confidence and empowerment, as well as to practice inclusion in rural areas, training in mentoring and leadership of people with disabilities in rural areas of Europe. All of this, facilitating access to the Internet for people with disabilities living in rural areas and helping them to upskill on ICT.
COCEMFE Seville insisted on the importance of reducing the digital gap in rural areas for people with disabilities, as a first step towards achieving the participation of these people with the same opportunities than the rest of the population. In this regard, however, it is worth highlighting the work being carried out by Telefónica with the deployment of technology in all the municipalities of Andalusia. These are new generation networks for ultra-fast internet connections, which improve voice and data communications coverage, facilitating social development and improved access to information. These are basic infrastructures on which the digital transformation that is taking place in society is based, hence the importance of this initiative.
By their side, the representatives of the local governments attending the meeting showed their interest in participating in EU-RUDISNET in order to address the needs of people with disabilities in their towns and cities, promoting their autonomy and independence. In particular, they expressed their concern about updating population lists of people seriously affected by disability, developing their areas, etc.
The Federation will hold individual meetings with each town council to establish lines of action and activities in each of the villages, to analyse the social reality of each municipality and make life in rural areas inclusive. An objective that requires joint work and alliances between local governments, village disability associations and the Federation.
The project ‘Network for social inclusion of people with disabilities in The EU rural areas through mentoring and leadership training program (EU-RUDISNET)’ is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU.
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