The UN Headquarters in Vienna was the setting for the fourth annual conference of the Zero Project which took place on 26-27 February. This year’s conference, which brought together no less than 400 delegates from over 60 countries, represented a major international event in the field of disability rights. As a result, a number of innovative policies and practices were presented from all five continents around the issues of independent living and the political participation of people with disabilities. On this occasion, the European Expert Group (EEG) on the transition from institutional to community-based care, which is co-chaired by the European Social Network (ESN), was awarded ’Innovative Practice 2015’ for its work on using EU funds for community-based care.
Supporting the rights of people with disabilities: key themes
The Zero Project supports the rights of people with disabilities globally. It is an initiative of the Essl Foundation, an Austrian charitable foundation established in 2008. The project aims to provide an exchange platform whose aim is to find solutions to problems faced by people with disabilities in their daily lives. Each year, the project focuses on a particular United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities’ (UNCRPD) theme, which then determines the theme of that year’s report and the subsequent conference. For 2014-2015, the Zero Project chose to address a combination of two themes: independent living and political participation. Previous themes have included employment and accessibility, while the theme for next year’s research and activities will be education.
Tackling independent living issues
Presentations and workshops tackled the whole spectrum of independent living issues. As an organisation representing social services in over 30 countries, the European Social Network (ESN) was keen to engage in this dialogue and to learn from other stakeholders, all of whom aim to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities Practices addressed labour market inclusion, service delivery, and the role of local authorities in partnership with others, including charities, families, health and social care professionals.
ICT and community inclusion
There was an increased focus on the use of new technologies to support independent living, including: ‘Blitab’, a tablet made specifically for the visually impaired; and ‘Connect to control’, an initiative from Scope, UK. Both of these technologies represent cheap, accessible equipment which can help people with disabilities living independently and stimulate their inclusion in the community.
Deinstitutionalisation, as an important step in fostering the full social inclusion of people with disabilities, was the theme of several workshops. While the Lumos Foundation focused on children, Roberto Mezzina, from the mental health department of the city of Trieste, Italy, presented the whole deinstitutionalisation process in Italy since the 1970’s.
Read more about ESN’s work on disability here.