To commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), The WORLD Policy Analysis Center at UCLA, has released a new set of resources in order to improve the quantity and quality of the rights of persons with disabilities in all 193 UN countries.
The package includes new global data, electronic maps, downloadable datasets, and social media content, alongside factsheets. The topic of the factsheets are listed below and they are all screen reader accessible and you can find large text versions and translations into Spanish and French on the WORLD’s website:
Assessing National Action on Education Rights for Children with Disabilities
Assessing National Action on Civil and Political Rights for Persons with Disabilities
Action on Supporting Access to Health for Persons with Disabilities
Assessing National Action on Work Rights for Persons with Disabilities
WORLD Policy Analysis Center has developed globally comparative, quantitatively analyzable data on many areas critical to adults and children with disabilities. The data produced examines whether equal rights for people with special needs have been recognized constitutionally, whether education is inclusive, and whether countries provide direct assistance to families to help with the additional financial costs of raising children with disabilities.
During a function on the occasion of the 25th International Day of Persons with Disabilities and 18th National Day of Persons with Disabilities, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina awarded Vashkar Bhattacharjee of YPSA as a successful person with disability for his outstanding contribution in disability and development, specially support to the activities of disability inclusive ICTs, making digital talking books, and making the skills and technology available for the people with disabilities. His great contribution will support to achieving the target of SDG by 2030.
Vashkar Bhattacharjee is the founder of Chittagong Computerized Braille production Centre and ICT and Resource Centre on Disability. He is also actively involved with a number of local, national and international agencies ranging from Bangladesh Visual Impaired Society to APCD Foundation in Thailand, among other activities on this issue.
The Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) has been awarded as an innovative practice by the Zero Project Conference 2016 on Education and ICT, for its accessible learning materials for students with visual impairments.
On December 3, the annual International Day of Persons with Disabilities commemorates the human rights of persons with disabilities.
To celebrate this special and relevant day for the Zero Project work, there is a need to highlight the wonderful job of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), which has worked to support the political rights of men and women with disabilities, for nearly 30 years.
Since one of the topics of the Zero Project work is the Independent Living and Political Participation of persons with disabilities, we’re having a distinct interest in IFES initiatives. Recognizing that all people should have an equal opportunity to contribute their voice, IFES collaborated with disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) around the world to increase the political participation of persons with disabilities through a number of initiatives. For example, IFES organized the first regional disability rights dialogue on political participation in the Pacific Islands region; and created the first sign language lexicons in Libyan Arabic Sign Language and Moroccan Sign Language.
Click here to see more details about the initiatives of IFES.
From 8 to 9 December 2016 the Harkin Summit will be held in Washington, D.C. to identify and create strategies to increase the employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
The Summit convenes high-level representatives and grassroots implementers from around the world—all working to increase the employment of people with disabilities by sharing knowledge and expertise.
As part of the European Disability and Development Week, our partner Light for the World Austria, together with Save the Children and the IDDC will organise a panel discussion to issue a research on “Costing Equity”: the case of financing for inclusive education, and to share experiences from the field, from Burkina Faso (LIGHT FOR THE WORLD) and from China (Save the Children). In addition, the European Commission will comment on its position with regard to inclusive education within development cooperation/in general.
Elie Bagbila, from Light for the World Burkina Faso and guest speaker at this panel will also mention the Inclusive Education project in Burkina Faso which was awarded by the Zero Project 2016.
Click on the invitation flyer to find the email address to the registration.
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the Zero Project wants to remind that women with disability also suffer this sort of discrimination and violence.
As highlighted by the European Disability Forum, women and girls with disabilities are, as a matter of fact more exposed to violence than women without disabilities. In many cases, it is not made possible for them to be protected from violence or to have access to justice, because they are deprived of their legal capacity and someone else decides for them; this legal representative or ‘guardian’ could be the perpetrator of the violence.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) clearly recognises under article 6 that “women and girls with disabilities are subject to multiple discrimination” and that states should take measures to address this issue.
In the process of doing so, the Austrian Ninlil organisation, one of the Innovative Practices 2016, is tackling this problem by preventing violence against women with learning difficulties or multiple disabilities. It aims to prevent bullying and fights sexual violence against women with learning difficulties by organizing seminars to work towards empowering these women.
Click here for more information about the Ninlil organisation.
From February 22nd to 24th, the Zero Project Conference 2017 highlighting Innovative Practices and Policies for persons with disabilities, will be held at the United Nations Office/Vienna International Centre, Austria.
This year, 260 innovative solutions concerning Employment, Work and Vocational Education and Training were nominated by the Zero Project’s network of experts from around the world. Out of these, 68 Innovative Practices and Policies have been selected as the most outstanding and are to be presented at next year’s conference.
With its annual event, the Zero Project supports decision-makers and opinion leaders in their efforts to implement the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) worldwide.
Our partner, the Disability Rights Promotion International, which is a collaborative project to establish a comprehensive, sustainable international system to monitor human rights of people with disabilities, is launching its Holistic Rights Monitoring Online: the DRPI Hub.
The DRPI Hub page is a platform that allows you to monitor your own rights or work with others in your country or in your local area to monitor their rights, a training guide to share the skills of self-monitoring on the web.
To learn more about the DRPI Hub, a webinar will be held on Wednesday, November 23rd, 12:00-1:00 pm (EST)). Find the DRPI Hub online.
The Zero Project network was invited by the Moscow Agency of Innovations from the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship jointly with the executive authorities of Moscow to the Open Challenges program, which identifies, selects and pilots local and international innovations that can address the city’s needs.
Thinking that the society at large that has to meet the needs of people with disabilities and special needs, this challenge aims to facilitate a positive response from the residents of Moscow, and to create an inclusive environment that has educational, consulting, social and cultural components.
Submitted technologies and solutions will be considered and assessed, and also recommended for the inclusion into the List of Innovative Hi-Tech Products and Technologies used by the city. Best solutions will be awarded with an opportunity to run a pilot project in the city. Successfully piloted solutions will be recommended for a large-scale implementation in Moscow’s infrastructure.
After 2016 Oscar nominations came out and #OscarsSoWhite began, Hollywood has scrambled to fix its diversity problem by leaving people with disabilities out of the inclusion mandate.
During the Ruderman Studio-Wide Roundtable on Disability Inclusion, hosted by the Ruderman Family Foundation at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills the 1st of November; Marlee Matlin, the only deaf performer to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, expressed her concern about disability inclusion among TV characters. Hollywood’s exclusion of disabled people means a lose of authenticity and a discouragement of people with disabilities from pursuing careers in acting, writing, producing, directing, etc. In this way, they aren’t given the same opportunities in terms of access to employment, which is the Zero Project’s 2017 Conference main topic.
The need to raise awareness about this issue by being vocal and be on Twitter was highlighted, so people understand it is important. Despite the infuriating stats and stories shared throughout both panels, no one in the room seemed discouraged or ready to give up the inclusion fight. The fact that the issue was discussed and the point on the situation was marked, it is a first step to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Hollywood.
WORLD’s new resources and data to improve the rights of persons with disabilities
To commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), The WORLD Policy Analysis Center at UCLA, has released a new set of resources in order to improve the quantity and quality of the rights of persons with disabilities in all 193 UN countries.
The package includes new global data, electronic maps, downloadable datasets, and social media content, alongside factsheets. The topic of the factsheets are listed below and they are all screen reader accessible and you can find large text versions and translations into Spanish and French on the WORLD’s website:
WORLD Policy Analysis Center has developed globally comparative, quantitatively analyzable data on many areas critical to adults and children with disabilities. The data produced examines whether equal rights for people with special needs have been recognized constitutionally, whether education is inclusive, and whether countries provide direct assistance to families to help with the additional financial costs of raising children with disabilities.
YPSA has been awarded by honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh
During a function on the occasion of the 25th International Day of Persons with Disabilities and 18th National Day of Persons with Disabilities, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina awarded Vashkar Bhattacharjee of YPSA as a successful person with disability for his outstanding contribution in disability and development, specially support to the activities of disability inclusive ICTs, making digital talking books, and making the skills and technology available for the people with disabilities. His great contribution will support to achieving the target of SDG by 2030.
Vashkar Bhattacharjee is the founder of Chittagong Computerized Braille production Centre and ICT and Resource Centre on Disability. He is also actively involved with a number of local, national and international agencies ranging from Bangladesh Visual Impaired Society to APCD Foundation in Thailand, among other activities on this issue.
The Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) has been awarded as an innovative practice by the Zero Project Conference 2016 on Education and ICT, for its accessible learning materials for students with visual impairments.
Celebrating the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
On December 3, the annual International Day of Persons with Disabilities commemorates the human rights of persons with disabilities.
To celebrate this special and relevant day for the Zero Project work, there is a need to highlight the wonderful job of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), which has worked to support the political rights of men and women with disabilities, for nearly 30 years.
Since one of the topics of the Zero Project work is the Independent Living and Political Participation of persons with disabilities, we’re having a distinct interest in IFES initiatives. Recognizing that all people should have an equal opportunity to contribute their voice, IFES collaborated with disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) around the world to increase the political participation of persons with disabilities through a number of initiatives. For example, IFES organized the first regional disability rights dialogue on political participation in the Pacific Islands region; and created the first sign language lexicons in Libyan Arabic Sign Language and Moroccan Sign Language.
Click here to see more details about the initiatives of IFES.
The Zero Project shares knowledge at the Harkin Summit on Disability Employment in D.C.
From 8 to 9 December 2016 the Harkin Summit will be held in Washington, D.C. to identify and create strategies to increase the employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
The Summit convenes high-level representatives and grassroots implementers from around the world—all working to increase the employment of people with disabilities by sharing knowledge and expertise.
The Zero Project team will be represented by KR Martin Essl, Founder of the Essl Foundation, its Director, Dr. Michael Fembek and its New York representative, Mr. Thomas Butcher.
At this prestigious summit, Dr Fembek will share a preview of the findings of the forthcoming Zero Project Report 2017 at the panel “What We Know About Disability Employment Around the World” held on Friday, December 9th, from 8 to 9am.
To learn more, read our press release
Panel Discussion on the European Disability and Development Week
As part of the European Disability and Development Week, our partner Light for the World Austria, together with Save the Children and the IDDC will organise a panel discussion to issue a research on “Costing Equity”: the case of financing for inclusive education, and to share experiences from the field, from Burkina Faso (LIGHT FOR THE WORLD) and from China (Save the Children). In addition, the European Commission will comment on its position with regard to inclusive education within development cooperation/in general.
Elie Bagbila, from Light for the World Burkina Faso and guest speaker at this panel will also mention the Inclusive Education project in Burkina Faso which was awarded by the Zero Project 2016.
Click on the invitation flyer to find the email address to the registration.
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the Zero Project wants to remind that women with disability also suffer this sort of discrimination and violence.
As highlighted by the European Disability Forum, women and girls with disabilities are, as a matter of fact more exposed to violence than women without disabilities. In many cases, it is not made possible for them to be protected from violence or to have access to justice, because they are deprived of their legal capacity and someone else decides for them; this legal representative or ‘guardian’ could be the perpetrator of the violence.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) clearly recognises under article 6 that “women and girls with disabilities are subject to multiple discrimination” and that states should take measures to address this issue.
In the process of doing so, the Austrian Ninlil organisation, one of the Innovative Practices 2016, is tackling this problem by preventing violence against women with learning difficulties or multiple disabilities. It aims to prevent bullying and fights sexual violence against women with learning difficulties by organizing seminars to work towards empowering these women.
Click here for more information about the Ninlil organisation.
Zero Project Conference 2017: Launch of new website
Once again, the time has come to inspire!
From February 22nd to 24th, the Zero Project Conference 2017 highlighting Innovative Practices and Policies for persons with disabilities, will be held at the United Nations Office/Vienna International Centre, Austria.
This year, 260 innovative solutions concerning Employment, Work and Vocational Education and Training were nominated by the Zero Project’s network of experts from around the world. Out of these, 68 Innovative Practices and Policies have been selected as the most outstanding and are to be presented at next year’s conference.
With its annual event, the Zero Project supports decision-makers and opinion leaders in their efforts to implement the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) worldwide.
Visit our brand-new website to learn more about it: http://conference.zeroproject.org/
If you are interested to participated get in touch: [email protected]
#zerocon17
DRPI Hub Webinar on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2016
Our partner, the Disability Rights Promotion International, which is a collaborative project to establish a comprehensive, sustainable international system to monitor human rights of people with disabilities, is launching its Holistic Rights Monitoring Online: the DRPI Hub.
The DRPI Hub page is a platform that allows you to monitor your own rights or work with others in your country or in your local area to monitor their rights, a training guide to share the skills of self-monitoring on the web.
To learn more about the DRPI Hub, a webinar will be held on Wednesday, November 23rd, 12:00-1:00 pm (EST)). Find the DRPI Hub online.
Please, register to the Webinar here.
The Open Challenges Program invites the Zero Project
The Zero Project network was invited by the Moscow Agency of Innovations from the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship jointly with the executive authorities of Moscow to the Open Challenges program, which identifies, selects and pilots local and international innovations that can address the city’s needs.
The topic of the challenge is: Innovative solutions to boost social interaction and raise awareness of challenges faced by children with special needs, which started on December 28, 2015 until December 28, 2016.
Thinking that the society at large that has to meet the needs of people with disabilities and special needs, this challenge aims to facilitate a positive response from the residents of Moscow, and to create an inclusive environment that has educational, consulting, social and cultural components.
Submitted technologies and solutions will be considered and assessed, and also recommended for the inclusion into the List of Innovative Hi-Tech Products and Technologies used by the city. Best solutions will be awarded with an opportunity to run a pilot project in the city. Successfully piloted solutions will be recommended for a large-scale implementation in Moscow’s infrastructure.
Foundation Promotes Disability Equality in Hollywood
After 2016 Oscar nominations came out and #OscarsSoWhite began, Hollywood has scrambled to fix its diversity problem by leaving people with disabilities out of the inclusion mandate.
During the Ruderman Studio-Wide Roundtable on Disability Inclusion, hosted by the Ruderman Family Foundation at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills the 1st of November; Marlee Matlin, the only deaf performer to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, expressed her concern about disability inclusion among TV characters. Hollywood’s exclusion of disabled people means a lose of authenticity and a discouragement of people with disabilities from pursuing careers in acting, writing, producing, directing, etc. In this way, they aren’t given the same opportunities in terms of access to employment, which is the Zero Project’s 2017 Conference main topic.
The need to raise awareness about this issue by being vocal and be on Twitter was highlighted, so people understand it is important. Despite the infuriating stats and stories shared throughout both panels, no one in the room seemed discouraged or ready to give up the inclusion fight. The fact that the issue was discussed and the point on the situation was marked, it is a first step to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Hollywood.
For more information please visit this website.