The national strategies of the countries
The Nordic Welfare Centre, together with the members of the Council of Nordic Cooperation on Disability, monitors what is happening in the national disability policy landscapes. Choose a country in the list below.
The Ministry for Health and Persons with Disabilities (Naalakkersuisoq) has overall responsibility for disability policy in Greenland.
Administrative responsibility rests with the Department of Health and Persons with Disabilities, while the Social Authority (Socialstyrelsen) is responsible for residential services. Greenland’s five municipalities are responsible for the local administration and delivery of disability services and support.
Pissassarfik, operated by Naalakkersuisut through the Department of Health and Persons with Disabilities, is Greenland’s national knowledge, habilitation and rehabilitation centre for persons with disabilities, located in Sisimiut. The centre provides habilitation and rehabilitation services as well as advice, guidance and training for municipalities, persons with disabilities and their families.
Disability policy is primarily regulated through:
- The Inatsisartut Act on Support for Persons with Disabilities and associated executive orders
- The Inatsisartut Act on the Disability Ombudsman
- The Executive Order on Residential Placements in Denmark and Greenland
Greenland is covered by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Optional Protocol to the Convention.
In August 2024, Greenland adopted its first national disability action plan: Action Plan for the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2024–2034.
The Action Plan covers ten priority areas, including education, employment, competence development of professionals working in the disability sector, case management, healthcare and housing. The plan covers the period 2024–2034.
Tilioq, the Disability Ombudsman Institution of Greenland, is an independent institution responsible for promoting the rights, opportunities and participation of persons with disabilities based on the CRPD. Tilioq monitors the implementation of the Convention, provides information about disability rights and regularly publishes reports on the situation of persons with disabilities in Greenland.
NIIK is the umbrella organisation representing organisations of persons with disabilities in Greenland.
The Greenland Council for Human Rights and the Danish Institute for Human Rights jointly published a status report on disability in Greenland in 2019.
