February 20-22, 2018

The Zero Project Organization works to promote the rights of people with special needs. The organization’s goal is to decrease the barriers encountered by people with special needs throughout the world. The organization seeks to accomplish this through worldwide participation in models that improve the everyday life and legal rights of all people with special needs.

The organization holds an annual international conference in Vienna, where 40 groundbreaking projects are chosen from all over the world. In 2018, the Israeli project “Supportive and Alternative Communication” was chosen. It was created through the collaboration of the following government organizations: The Ministry of Labor, Welfare & Social Services, the State Attorney’s Office, the National Insurance Institute, the Isaac Organization-Israel, Ashalim and the Haruv Institute. The recipients of the certificates of honor – Nomi Guttman of the Haruv Institute, Yifat Klein of Ashalim and Ronit Tzur, former Child Investigation Supervisor – represented all the collaborating partners. The entire project was directed by the Haruv Institute. The “Supporting and Alternative Communication” project, also known as “The Right to Have Your Voice Heard”, was designed to make speech accessible to mute children and adults via a technological device. The certificate of honor was awarded for developing a tool for child investigation with which child investigators and speech therapists will be able to question the harmed child about suspected abuse.

Target Population: Professionals in the relevant fields and people with special needs.

Number of Participants: About 3,000