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Portugal and the Institute for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, I.P. (IDiPD, I.P.), as national representative in the Ibero-American Program for Disability participated at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, to the Ibero-American Meeting for Disability, which took place at that Ministry, on 27 February 2026, in Madrid.

The meeting was inaugurated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Mr José Manuel Albares, and was attended by the Ibero-American ambassadors accredited to Spain, and the Ambassador of Portugal accredited to Madrid, Mr José Augusto Duarte, also the Ibero-American Secretary-General and the authorities of the Ibero-American Disability Programme, of which this Institute is part.

The meeting made it possible to identify the areas of disability that will be worked on in the framework of the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, which will take place on 4 and 5 November 2026 in Madrid, under the motto: "Ibero-America. Together we build our community. Together we project it for the future and for the world". Spain intends to strengthen its foreign policy in the field of the rights of persons with disabilities, for which it created the Embassy in Special Mission for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, becoming one of the two countries that include this figure in its external service around the world.

As for the Ibero-American Initiatives for Inclusion and one of the areas of disability that will be worked on at the Madrid Summit will be the implementation of the Ibero-American Disability Card. This aims to recognize the disability condition in the Ibero-American space, thus facilitating access to benefits and services for persons with disabilities during their temporary travels in the region. This instrument, which strengthens "Ibero-American citizenship", will enable 90 million people with disabilities in Ibero-America to enjoy their rights on an equal basis with the rest of the population.

This was, moreover, one of the themes addressed in the Agenda of the XIX Meeting of the Intergovernmental Council of the Ibero-American Program for Disability (PID), work that took place under the aegis of our IDID, I.P. as national representative in the Program and Portugal hosted for the first time that meeting, in Lisbon, work- which took place between 24 and 26 February 2026 and whose work took place at the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security of Portugal, in Lisbon.

During the work of these days it was possible for the motor working group composed of jurists from five Ibero-American countries of the IDP to work, outline and present a draft pilot project of the Ibero-American Disability Card that will be taken to the XXX Ibero-American Summit of Heads of States and Government that will take place in Madrid in November 2026.

The Ibero-American Disability Card will facilitate the recognition of rights and access to services for persons with disabilities in Ibero-American countries. This is one of the advances of Ibero-American Disability Program, promoted by Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the separate technical unit of which is the ONCE Social Group.