countries - Poland

The information contained on this page was compiled in April 2009 by our country team.

Contact:
Ewa Wapiennik
Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education
Division of Special Education for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
Warsaw

Email: wapiennik@aps.edu.pl

The full text can be downloaded here.

The key national bodies with responsibility for disability law and policy implementation include:

The Government Plenipotentiary for Disabled People ( Pełnomocnik Rządu do Spraw Osób Niepełnosprawnych)

Poland has signed the United Nations Convention but not the Optional Protocol.

Important national laws, policies and strategies concerning disabled people include:

Key features of the national system include (including adapted items from the MISSOC database December 2008):

Disability benefits

Welfare payments are financed through compulsory social insurance payments by employees, self-employed people and employers, as well as through taxes The amount of earnings-related pension received depends on contributions made and the duration of affiliation (MISSOC, 2008)

Data on population indicate that:

There are approximately 4.5 million of people with a legal status of disability in Poland (11.7% of the general population).  If people without a legal disability status, but considering themselves disabled, are also included.  it is 5.5 million (14.3% of the general population) of which 47.1% are male and 52.9% female. Of these, 5.3% were aged under 20; 57.1% aged 20-64; 37.6% aged 65 and over (2002 National Census).

There is currently no specific academic research network on disability studies in Poland. However, the following journals publish a range of relevant papers.

Człowiek-Niepełnosprawność-Społeczeństwo (Person-Disability-Society)

Szkoła Specjalna (Special School)

The national organisation representing disabled people at the European level (European Disability Forum) is:

The Polish Disability Forum (Polskie Forum Osób Niepełnosprawnych), with four full members which are among the most influential associations of and for people with disabilities in Poland:

Useful sources of more detailed information about the situation of disabled people, and the policies and support available, include:

Government website dedicated to people with disabilities at:

http://www.niepelnosprawni.gov.pl/

Information on the situation of persons with severe disabilities and/or with complex needs in Poland is available from Inclusion Europe

This summary and more detailed country reports on selected themes are available on the ANED website.