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I'm almost 74 years old and have been ILI's director since the organization's start in 1993. Contrary to what you might suspect, my role models have not been Robert Mugabe, Fidel Castro or similar hard-to-remove older gentlemen. For a long time, I have been looking for somebody willing and capable to succeed me as ILI's  director, a position where you are expected to raise money for your own salary. Now, finally, I found the right one: Jamie Bolling.

Adolf Ratzka wins ULOBA's 2017 Pride Award at the annual ULOBA Pride Parade in Oslo on June 17.

 In his acceptance speech Adof talked about how we can all be proud, as profoundly ordinary people who demand human and civil rights, rights that others take for given. 

6 April 2017.  The Swedish Inheritance Fund yesterday approved funding of 8.4 million SEK to the Independent Living Institute  project Disabled Refugees Welcome.

The project Disabled Refugees Welcome will improve the reception of refugees who have disabillities and the coordination of services provided to refugees .

March 13 in Athens at a conference of the ruling party SYRIZA Adolf Ratzka recommended Independent Living and Personal Assistance as the guiding philosophy for countries in deep social and economic crisis.

The Zero Project researches the status quo of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), this year with a focus on independent living and political participation. Data on 150 countries was collected, together with 50 Innovative Practices and Policies that can be considered as worldwide role models in their field.

Download the Zero Project Report 2015 (PDF)

Interview with Adolf Ratzka by Christa Hofmann talking about personal assistance in Sweden. Part of the program "Leben ohne Barrieren" shown on tv.orf.at/weltjournal 2014-12-02. Austrian TV. 

The interview is in german and there are no subtitles.

The Zero Project team would like to invite leading experts and organizations to nominate outstanding practices and policies concerning this year’s topic:

Independent Living and Political Participation

The Innovative Policies and Practices selected by internationally renowned experts in a multistep process will be:

Bente Skansgård, Oslo, my long-time close personal friend and associate in the Independent Living and Disability Rights Movement, passed away on November 14, 2013 after a long illness.  Bente, known as “ULOBA’s (the Norwegian personal assistance user cooperative) mother”, had a decisive role in Norway’s disability politics by introducing Independent Living and personal assistance to the country and by starting the foundation "Stopp diskrimineringen" to promote and defend the civil rights of persons with disabilities.  Bente served as chairperson for