Disabilities
Article | Last updated: 04/11/2019 | Ministry of Culture
Person with disabilities have the same rights as others. Disability policy must be founded on equality and equal status, self-determination, cooperation, participation and inclusion.
The Ministry of Culture is responsible for national equality and anti-discrimination legislation. The legislation prohibits discrimination on the grounds of disability. The ministry has overall responsibility for coordinating the government policies with other ministries relating to persons with disabilities. The sector authorities are responsible for specific sectors. The Government’s strategy for the equality of persons with disabilities for the period 2020–2030 was signed by nine ministers from eight ministries.
Non-governmental organisations are an important contributor to relevant political processes, including the development of action plans and strategies.
The Minister of Culture and Equality hosts annual political roundtable meetings with the Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Disabled People (FFO), the Norwegian Forum of Disabled Peoples’ Organizations (SAFO) and the Norwegian Association of Youth with Disabilities, and ministers from relevant sectors, to discuss applicable topics. The three organisations also collaborate with The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir) on the ministry’s behalf to arrange a yearly event marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3rd.
The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir) is a specialist directorate
Bufdir is the ministry’s coordinating directorate for disability policy. Bufdir works to improve the living conditions and life situations of persons with disabilities.
Bufdir’s tasks include:
- Administering grants for organisations representing disabled persons and leisure-time initiatives for persons with disabilities. All central government grants to voluntary organisations are listed on a dedicated page on government.no (available in Norwegian only) which contains details of all grants made to persons with disabilities. More information about the schemes and an application form can be found here (available in Norwegian only).
- Documenting the situation of persons with disabilities by compiling relevant figures and statistics. A website documenting Living conditions was launched in 2015. A municipal monitoring scheme focused on disabilities was launched in 2018. The monitor is only available in Norwegian.
- Running the Legal safeguards for persons with disabilities programme as a source of information on persons with disabilities. (Available in Norwegian only).