Introduction of MEOSZ

The National Federation of Organisations of People with a Physical Disability (in short: MEOSZ) is the largest organisation representing people with physical disabilities in Hungary. Established in 1981, MEOSZ is run and controlled by disabled people and currently has nearly 100 member organisations across Hungary.

MEOSZ, as the national umbrella of local and regional organisations, aims to represent its members and advocate for them on the national level. We strongly believe in a human rights-based approach to disability policies and recognise the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a core instrument in our advocacy.

Our work covers a broad range of initiatives and programmes.

Our member organisations run services for disabled people reaching many thousands of service users every day. Services include early development, day care, in-home assistance, residential services etc.
Our lawyers assist disabled people in various issues, including in fighting discrimination, getting special aids, applying for disability benefits etc.
We lobby the government for human rights-based disability policies. We have been monitoring the implementation Hungarian government’s deinstitutionalisation strategy. We also speak up in a number of other issues, including anti-discrimination cases, education, social services, accessibility, legal capacity, and employment.
We help our members to get occasional, much-needed respite at accessible holiday resorts.
We are member of the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL, enil.eu), and also work closely with other Hungarian national disability organisations at the Hungarian National Council of Associations of Persons with Disabilities (FESZT, www.feszt.eu)
We are part of international projects, including those funded by ERASMUS+ and the Visegrad Fund.

We are also part of international (e.g. ERASMUS+) and EU-funded domestic projects. For example, our project ‘Without Barriers’ (“Korlátok nélkül – EFOP 1.1.5.”) has supported disabled people through ICT – Information and Communication Technology. We have also been part of international projects supporting young disabled people to achieve better social inclusion and active citizenship and encourage them to establish peer groups.

We are happy to answer queries about possible future international partnerships.

Should you have questions about our work, please get in touch with our international coordinator at international@meosz.hu.