According to the DAT Public Relations and International Affairs, the European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) organized a conference entitled Private Investment, Human Rights and Social Care: Creating Common Guidelines for Europe, and the DAT representative participated in the union webinar for the second time. 
This webinar was held on October 28 and Masoume Amedi, Director of International Relations of the DAT participated in this webinar as a representative.
Amedi, while expressing her satisfaction with holding such webinars, which comprehensively deals with the investment and social care of people with disabilities, said: "This union regularly and purposefully deals with various issues of people with disabilities, and as the name of the webinar indicates, the goal of the webinar was to bring together the three aspects of private investment, human rights and social care, and to create a common European agenda in which these three issues are aligned. It therefore helps to improve access to social care and support for people in need.

EASPD Secretary General Luke Zerderlo: Capital should be a tool for support

"Investment in social services and further development of our sector is essential," said EASPD Secretary-General Luke Zerderlo. “We need to set up online platforms and infrastructure and remote surveillance systems. So we really need capital for a network of support services for people with disabilities. Capital should be a tool for support. Institutions and the EU have some attractive tools for further cooperation.”

Generality of the webinar

"Thomas Bignal, the EASPD Investment Policy Manager, was the host of the webinar," Amedi said. The barriers to a common European agenda on equality and social investment in Europe were discussed, and the webinar was divided into two sections. The first part was based on the presentation of the work of three experts and then, an interactive discussion with four experts took place and the audience could ask their questions.
"Alberto Iglesias, from the Carlos III University in Madrid, gave his first presentation on private investment and human rights, encouraging private representatives to support public administration duties and conditional commitments regarding to human rights," The director of international relations of the Tavana Association said.

Dr. Alberto Iglesias: When it comes to human rights standards, social care includes health, disability and housing

"When we talk about social care activities, we mean 'investing' in social care," Dr. Alberto Iglesias said. Investment takes place in a regular way and should lead to effective social investment for the supplier, the executor and ultimately the user. When it comes to human rights standards, social care is divided into many topics that have traditionally grown to include health, disability, and housing. We can trust that the investor complies with his requirements as long as the investor is in line with the realities of human rights. According to the investor, respect for the demands of shareholders is mandatory, if the government management takes into account the rules and demands of end users, which is important for example in the field of disability and the government's decision to make policies to comply with laws and standards.

Steve Wright: Social investment includes physical and human capital that supports service delivery

"Steve Wright, an economist at the UK Health Network, gave the second presentation on the state of the art report on social investment in social care. He talked about access to assets as a whole and the possibility of using social investment. According to him, capital savings make a profit over time, and investment is only increased stock. Social investment includes physical and human capital that supports the provision of services.” Amedi continued.
"After the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, we are now facing a worse situation, which is a shortage of public money," Steve Wright said. “In fact, in private sector investment, it is more about the standard of bank measures and loans. Organizations of all kinds, whether charities or social institutions, need foreign capital. In the UK, larger organizations merged, which is different from charities, and many of their loans are standard commercial bank loans, but there is a certain amount of mortgage and a large amount of secured loans that a social organization uses existing assets and benefit building as a guarantee for loan.”

Mireya Bilbao: European Capital Bank provides € 35 million to create jobs for people with disabilities

"Mireya Bilbao of the European Association of the Disabled in Spain gave the third presentation on the first social group, which had 62,000 employees, 58% of whom were disabled.” The director of international relations of the Tavana Association said.
"Opportunities and added value for all communities provide a wide range of activities in five sectors," said Mireya Bilbao. “This group promotes social investment in the context of an inclusive economy. The European Capital Bank loan is an example. The European Capital Bank has provided € 35 million with the aim of creating employment for people with disabilities. This is the first loan and the plan should be ready by 2021. The construction and renovation of existing hotels and the improvement of various facilities have improved the lives of people with disabilities. Investment conditions have improved since 2014 thanks to solutions such as the European Fund. The plan had less impact on social sector organizations, which borrowed less than 4% from the European Fund. We hope this project will enable other companies with disabilities as well as Europe to use more people with disabilities in the workplace.”

Daniel Sorrosal: There is a lot of room for debate on human rights

"The last issue is the human rights issue, which has a lot of work to do, and we only worked on inclusion and did not focus too much on it, but more on loans or some kind," said Daniel Sorrosal, secretary general of the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks (FEBEA). We focused on financial support. We talked about government officials, and the question is, what is the responsibility of government officials towards human rights and what is their role in investing in social care? Is there a role for private investment? If yes, to what extent?

Conclusion: In order to achieve a real win, we must discover constructive ways and positive cooperation

"Georgia Efremova Policy Officer for Social Impact Investment at the European Commission spoke about integrated and repayable investment and cheap loans to people at home," Amedi continued.
“At the end, the speakers addressed the inseparability of social issues and commitments and self-employment, which were issues in Europe 20 years ago and are nothing new," Amedi concluded. The French Federation of Cooperatives was cited as an example of European cooperation that does only guarantee loans. Today, the world does not give investors the opportunity to make money, and Corona, with all its disadvantages, is an opportunity, and priorities must be reconsidered. To achieve a real win win, constructive ways and positive cooperation must discover. The private sector helps social service providers and people with special needs can support the community to make the community more inclusive and stable. There is little profit in working closely with private investors. In fact, there is flexibility, speed and a direct relationship between the supplier and the investor.