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2012 Zero Project Report sheds more light on the UNCRPD implementation

There is a project to support new ideas
that make life of people with disabilities easier.

As part of the project,
some people did a research to see
what governments are doing
so that people with disabilities have more rights.

They put the findings of this research to a report.
You can see the report here.

You might need the help of your support person
to read the report.

“The world with zero barriers” is the ultimate objective of the Zero Project carried out by the Essl Foundation. The project creates platforms for sharing and developing models that improve the daily lives and legal rights of persons with disabilities.

The 2012 project report was published on the occasion of the 2011 International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and summarizes the research and findings of the project in three key work areas: social indicators, good practices and good policies.

The Zero Project reviews 21 social indicators to compare and measure the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The indicators illustrate the extent and quality of the UNCRPD implementation by measuring the level to which the·Convention has been incorporated into the national legal systems as well as the lived experience of people with disabilities.

In each reviewed country, the report evaluates the indicators on the basis of traffic light colours: green stands for a good solution, orange for a partial solution and red for an unsatisfactory solution. Accessibility of building scored highest among the indicators, followed by the access to primary mainstream education and sign language in court. On the other hand, the early warning system for national emergencies, statistics on university graduates and accessibility of public buses were considered far from satisfactory.

The report currently contains 27 good practice examples which were collected with help of an international network of persons with disabilities, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, foundations, media, companies, academics and decision-makers. They are divided into 8 categories: assistance, job support and job creation, hardware/software/technical support, awareness raising and policy implementation, media/TV/accessibility, coaching/education/training, international and development cooperation and data/statistics.

At the same time, eight examples of good policies on regional and national level have been identified together with the World Future Council (WFC), namely anti-discrimination laws of Austria, Spain and the United Kingdom and five special policies recommendable for transfer to other countries. These are: supported decision-making models from Sweden and British Columbia, the Swedish system of direct payments allowing people with disabilities to manage their personal assistance services, the obligation of all schools in Italy to accept any child and the system of universal access to justice in Israel.

The policy examples will be discussed at the International Conference on Good Policies for Disabled People organised in partnership with the World Future Council on 22-23 January 2012 in Vienna. Around 200 participants, including parliamentarians, NGOs, foundation, EU and UN representatives, academics and disability rights activist are expected at the conference table.

More information can be found on the newly launched website www.zeroproject.og.

Essl Foundation was established to promote social innovation and help persons with disadvantages, particularly disabilities. Since 2008, it awards the Essl Social Prize to social entrepreneurs for developing and implementing an innovative project that can be multiplied to create a wide social impact.