No Decision Without Us

For World Down Syndrome Day on March 21, 2025, CoorDown is launching the international awareness campaign "NO DECISION WITHOUT US” to demand the presence of people with disabilities at the tables where decisions are made, whether regarding personal autonomy or a social and civic role.

Inclusion will never be possible if the decisions that shape the world are made only by a few, for a few. It is not just a matter of providing specific opportunities to include, but about changing the way we all live together: people with disabilities want to be where decisions are made and where the world is designed. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least one billion people, 15 percent of the global population, live with a disability. But where are these people when the world they live in takes shape? They are not the protagonists; the rooms where decisions are made remain closed and there is a risk that they are becoming increasingly inaccessible. This applies to all people with disabilities.

Two years ago, the film “Ridiculous Excuses Not To Be Inclusive” began with these words: “In a world increasingly attentive to inclusivity, only one trick remains to avoid it: invent ridiculous excuses.” Today, we see steps backward on the issue of inclusion. While the hard-won rights and achievements of people with disabilities at work, school, in sports, and society are being challenged and erased by decrees, CoorDown and associations around the world, along with all people with disabilities, not only want to resist but want to take a hundred steps forward. They do not just want to be part of the world but want to be among those who make decisions about the world they inhabit.

The "NO DECISION WITHOUT US" film was born out of a commitment to the importance of including people with Down syndrome, and disabilities in general, in decision-making processes. A captivating, original song NO DECISION WITHOUT US, brings people with various disabilities, in a range of settings, together to assert their rightful place in society. They are united by their demand to be part of the conversations that shape their lives—from the clothes they wear, to how they live, from school to work, and how the spaces around them are designed—because what is right for some is not always right for all.

At the start of the film, we are transported to Sophia’s bedroom, a girl with Down syndrome. Sophia's parents are deciding which dress their daughter should wear to a wedding, without asking her opinion. Sofia is not involved in the decision-making process. Suddenly, Sophia bursts into the room, demanding to have a say in this decision. A wheelchair user wants to be at the table where a new train station is being approved. A little person wants to be involved in designing their workspace. A deaf student reacts with sarcasm when the school principal tells everyone to flee at the sound of the fire alarm. A blind person at an airport highlights how a touchscreen information point is useless if you cannot see it. Finally, a person with a motor disability and a person with an intellectual disability ask a politician in Parliament to be at the table where laws are written.

From today until March 21, @CoorDown's social media channels – from TikTok to Instagram and Facebook – will be sharing and amplifying the stories of people with disabilities and their families, highlighting the decisions they were excluded from, under the rallying cry: "I want to be in the room where decisions are made. No decision about us, without us."