The last in the series of seminars that we held within the framework of the project was entitled “Discrimination on the Basis of Age and Disability”. The seminar proved to be a good opportunity to better acquaint ourselves with the wider problem of some groups that are particularly vulnerable to discrimination, and served at the same time as a working discussion on the challenges, dilemmas, good practices and weaknesses that can be observed in the prevention of discrimination on the basis of disability and age. We focused above all on open questions relating to discrimination on the basis of disability and age, particularly in employment, in the workplace and in accessing goods and services.

Invited participants included NGOs that are in close daily contact with the potential victims of discrimination and that can contribute through a variety of activities to preventing and eliminating discrimination on the basis of age and disability. The discussion also involved Dieter Schindlauer, the founder and director of ZARA, the most important Austrian NGO in the fight against racism, and the umbrella organisation the Litigation Association, which represents the victims of discrimination before the courts, and Andres Delgado, the former secretary of the Office of the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination. At the seminar we exchanged opinions and proposals for improving existing practices in confronting discrimination on the basis of age and disability, and established an open dialogue and debate on strategies and plans for the elimination of discrimination on the basis of disability and age.
We will provide a summing up of the project at a closing conference on 8 December 2006 at the Law Faculty and conclude it with a gala reception at the National Museum on Human Rights Day (10 December).