Having lunch blindfolded, today, are the operators of the Council of Europe (CdE). The unusual initiative comes from the CoE, which thus intends to raise public awareness of the condition of the disabled, whose World Day is going to be celebrated on December 3rd. According to some prudential estimates, one European out of ten is affected by some disability, i.e. 80 million people in the 45 member states of the Council of Europe have some form of handicap, either motor, sensory, mental or psychological. The other initiatives, in addition to this one, include the screening of films about disability, a café-theatre staging shows on diversity and disability, some exhibition stands in front of the premises of the CoE and a guide for the employees and representatives of the CoE on how to treat disabled people. At the beginning of 2006, the Committee of the Ministers adopted "the 2006-2015 Action Plan of the CoE for disabled people" which provides all details (www.coe.int).
