The Zero Project Network

A global community for disability innovation

"Zero Project has created a community of friends who are glad and ready to help each other at any time. I see the Zero Project as a big convening power focused on innovating continuously and adapting to change."

Yetnebersh Nigussie, Children with Disabilities Program Specialist at UNICEF

Over the past decade, Zero Project has established a global network of 10,000+ experts, policy makers, corporates, academics, and other persons with and without disabilities who are advancing the implementation of the CRPD. This network contributes to the Zero Project’s work and continues to grow, fostering a global community for disability inclusion.

 

A unique and cross-sectoral network

It is the diversity in relationships that makes the Zero Project Network unique and effective: cross-sectoral impact of inclusive solutions, global knowledge transfer, and the engagement of decision-makers with experts to effectively steer inclusion in our society, are just some examples of how the Zero Project Network actively helps to remove barriers:

Engage

Connecting people for a world with zero barriers

Replicate

Implementing proven solutions elsewhere

Scale

Enabling innovations to increase their reach

Support

Sharing knowledge, creating visibility

"Zero Project has created a community of friends who are glad and ready to help each other at any time. I see the Zero Project as a big convening power focused on innovating continuously and adapting to change."

Yetnebersh Nigussie, Children with Disabilities Program Specialist at UNICEF

Partnerships and initiatives

The iconic "Zero Project family photo" that is taken at each of the annual Zero Project Conferences. Hundreds of participants with and without disabilities from around the world pose for a group picture during the Award Ceremony; they are smiling and cheering. The Zero Project logo is visible in the background.
The iconic "family photo" with hundreds of participants at the #ZeroCon25 Award Ceremony.

The Zero Project engages with and supports the global network in many different ways:

  • "From left to right: Michael Fembek, Luis Gallegos, his wife, Javier Guemes, and Martin Essl standing together at the Zero Project Conference 2025, with Luis Gallegos and Javier Guemes holding their 'Ambassador of the Zero Project' certificates.

    Honorary title for outstanding contributions

    Zero Project Ambassadors

    The title is awarded to people who have made an outstanding contribution to the Zero Project for a period of four years.

  • Dr. Martin Essl, founder of Zero Project, presenting the Zero Project Ambassadors' Circle in the premises of the Australian Embassy.

    Ambassadors share good practices for accessibility and inclusion

    Ambassadors' Circle

    The Zero Project Ambassadors' Circle is a diplomatic collective that brings together actors determined to foster disability inclusion, share good practices, and remove barriers for all.

  • The image shows a diverse group of five adults, possibly colleagues, in a brightly lit room with windows. There is a mix of genders and ethnicities, reflecting a multicultural environment. They are gathered around a table with some documents and a laptop, seemingly engaged in a positive and congenial interaction, evidenced by their smiling faces and relaxed postures. The scene suggests a collaborative and inclusive atmosphere, where individuals are valued and respected, contributing to themes of equality and mutual support in a workplace or community setting.

    Transfer for inclusion. Advance through innovation.

    Zero Project Scaling Solutions

    Zero Project Scaling Solutions advances the transfer of disability innovations to new regions, countries, and communities. The programme is rooted in collaboration—through strategic partnerships, peer learning, and a global network of innovation ecosystems.

  • The Technology Forum stage is visible during the Access Robot presentation, displayed on a large screen, with audience members seated in front.

    Where ICT solutions meet global investors and partners

    Zero Project Technology Forum

    The Zero Project Technology Forum is an exclusive in-person event held annually ahead of the Zero Project Conference. It connects innovators pitching scalable ICT solutions for disability inclusion with global investors and partners.

  • The ceremonial lighting of a lamp by Meera Shenoy and Michael Fembek

    Regional activities and partnerships

    Zero Project India

    Since 2023, partnerships with Youth4Jobs, EnAble India, and others have been forged to remove barriers in India.

  • A large group of people from the organizing team of the Zero Project 2025 conference pose smiling behind a green table with the initiative's logo. All are wearing name badges and green lanyards, in a conference center setting.

    Regional activities and partnerships

    Zero Project Ibero-America

    A long standing partnership with Fundación Descúbreme to remove barriers across Ibero-America.

  • Einladung zum Zero Project Unternehmensdialog in Klagenfurt am 22. September 2022

    Initiatives for inclusive employment

    Zero Project Austria

    In its home country of Austria, the Zero Project focuses on initiatives related to inclusive employment.

  • the photo shows different persons with disabilities performing on the stage of the Zero Project Asia Pacific 2024

    Regional activities and partnerships

    Zero Project Asia Pacific

    Since 2023, SG Enable is the Zero Project's strategic partner for the Asia Pacific region. The shared mission is to build bridges between the global network and local innovation ecosystem.

  • Logo: the Zero Projetc plant in white on green background to the left; the words "Zero Project" in black and "Responsible AI" in purple font, which is meant to indicate the disability-inclusive approach.

    Tools, solutions, and a global network of experts

    Zero Project Responsible AI

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the forefront of technological development. The Zero Project engages with AI in multiple ways, recognizing both its risks and its potential to create a world with zero barriers. 

  • White Hands Choir Nippon performing the Zero Project Anthem at the ZeroCon24 Closing Cermony.

    Innovative solutions and a growing community

    Zero Project Inclusive Arts

    The Zero Project Inclusive Arts initiative is involved in a range of activities to remove barriers for persons with disabilities across all forms of expression.

Celebrating 10+ years of partnership with UNOV

Ghada Waly and Martin Essl at #ZeroCon23
Ghada Waly, Director-General of UNOV and Executive Director of UNODC, and Martin Essl, Founder of the Essl Foundation at the Zero Project Conference 2023.

Since 2013, the United Nations in Vienna through the UN Office at Vienna (UNOV), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Essl Foundation, have been working together to realize the United Nations’ commitment to building a better world for people with disabilities.

In 2023, the UN in Vienna and the Essl Foundation celebrated ten years of partnership:

“As we mark the 10th anniversary of our partnership with the Essl Foundation working on the Zero Project, we must continue to strive for a world with zero barriers for people with disabilities. We must ensure that their voices are heard at all levels of policymaking. This lies at the heart of the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to “leave no one behind”. The Zero Project and its annual Conference in Vienna provide a platform to deliver on this promise. I look forward to continuing our important work with the Essl Foundation, as we engage with key sectors of society to develop accessible and innovative solutions for people with disabilities.”

Ghada Waly, Director-General of UNOV and Executive Director of UNODC

Read the joint press release

 

 

Strategic Cooperation

How to become a partner?

If you are interested in joining the Zero Project and becoming a partner, please contact us:

Get in touch 

For the Essl Foundation and the Zero Project, the partnership with UNOV/UNODC is embedded in a broad and strategic cooperation with the United Nations: 

  • The Essl Foundation has consultative status with ECOSOC since 2014, with access to not only ECOSOC, but also to its many subsidiary bodies, and to the various human rights mechanisms of the United Nations.
  • Since 2012, the Zero Project organizes several Side Events at annual Conference of State Parties of UN DESA in the UN Headquarters in New York, also at Side Events of meetings of the OHCHR in Geneva.
  • The Zero Project was invited to join various joint activities with diverse United Nations agencies, like in the consultation process for the Sustainable Development Goals in Paris 2014, at the UN Habitat Conferences in Quito (2016), Nairobi (2015) and WUF in Katowice (2022).
  • The Zero Project is in constant cooperation with the ITU, the ILO Global Disability Network, UNDP, OHCHR and WHO, related to mutual projects, publications, and Conferences.
  • The Zero Project contributed to United Nations publications, such as the 2018 UN Flagship Report on Disability and Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, over 65 global good practices were collected, analyzed, and submitted to the 2023 UN Disability and Development Report, which will be published in June 2023 during COSP16. These contributions are complemented by the active assistance in the 2016 Good Practices of Accessible Urban Development report published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 

 

The Zero Project Conference at UNOV

The Zero Project Conference has been hosted at the UN in Vienna since 2014. It has become a unique global meeting place to innovate for disability inclusion.

Learn more

 

 

United Nations Zero Project Awardees

Criteria: Innovation, impact, scalability

Discover some of the UN initiatives that received a Zero Project Award.