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In Switzerland, 1.7 million people aged 16 and over live with one or more disabilities. The figures show that People with disability(ies) are neither rare exceptions in our society, nor should the topic of disability be considered socially sensitive. However, uncertainty, prejudices and a lack of information still prevent people with disabilities from participating in the labor market on an equal footing, as various studies show and a study that we conducted at the iDNA Institute for Diversity and New Working Environments at OST - Ostschweizer Fachhochschule together with Saphir Ben Dakon Communications GmbH confirms.

Sara Juen from FH Ost has written a blog entry on HR-Today about the joint study. We hope you enjoy reading the blog post.

As an expert in communication and inclusion, Saphir Ben Dakon supports organizations, groups and individuals with their projects. Saphir talks to Jahn Graf and Fabienne Mathis about her personal career and her motivation for her current work. She vividly describes how ableist structures function in the education sector and work context and the approaches she uses to combat them in her work.

In her second blog article for the internet platform with magazine character #geschlechtergerechter, Saphir Ben Dakon interviewed the founder of the community platform "mamibrennt" Julia Panknin. She is a former victim of parental burnout and, as a journalist, speaker, business consultant and mentor, is committed to structures in which paid work and care work are compatible.

Enjoy reading the interview and thank you Julia!

In August, the book series ProSpectrum 2 published a book entitled "The CRPD in Switzerland". Within this publication, Saphir Ben Dakon, Barbara Egloff and Martina Schweizer wrote the article "Die BRK ist kein Allheilmittel" - Eine Diskussion zur Umsetzung der Maßnahmen im Kanton Zürich.

The article is available as an open access version on the website of the Swiss Center for Special Needs Education Foundation. We hope you enjoy reading the articles.

A specialist article by Dr. Yves Staudt, Prof. Dr. Jan Mosedale and Saphir Ben Dakon on the topic of "Acceptance of Social Service Robots in the Hotel Industry" has been published in the Marketing Review St. Gallen issue on Service Management in the Age of AI and Robotics.

Service robotics is another of Saphir Ben Dakon's areas of interest, as her research is highly interdisciplinary. She wrote her Master's thesis with a grade of 6 on the topic of "Diffusion of professional service robotics to compensate for functional limitations and loss of function on the Swiss market".

I hope you enjoy reading this and find it interesting.

Moira Lehmann interviewed Jahn Graf and Saphir Ben Dakon about the National Disability Rights Action Days. The two describe where Switzerland stands and how they envision an inclusive society. They themselves took part in the days of action and also had some critical words. You can read more about their views in the Luzerner Zeitung article.

The national Disability Rights Action Days of Zukunft Inklusion started on 15.05.2024. In this context, Saphir Ben Dakon was a morning guest on SRF - Swiss Radio and Television.

The following questions were asked:

▪ What are your experiences on public transport?
▪ What do you want from society?

The campaign days are about raising awareness among the general public about the realities of life and the rights of people with disabilities.

In terms of this awareness-raising, it is important for me to mention that Agile is not a disability organization, but the Swiss umbrella organization of self-help and self-advocacy organizations for people with disabilities. In contrast, disability organizations are not founded by people with disabilities and are not run by them. Self-advocacy organizations mean that people with disabilities stand up for their rights themselves and participate in and manage all levels of the organization.

Have you thought about improving your Italian lately? The Ticino Television report on the Disability Rights Action Days
Disability Rights by Zukunft Inklusion is the perfect opportunity to do so. A number of people have their say and provide interesting insights. Saphir Ben Dakon had the pleasure of representing Agile in the report and addressed the challenges of including people with disabilities on a meta-level.

The topic of inclusion also includes linguistic inclusion. Switzerland's linguistic diversity is unique. Three recognized sign languages are also spoken in Switzerland.

In the 2nd SGO Communication 2024 of zfo , the authors Saphir Ben Dakon and Valeska Hoenen report in detail on the SGO strategy process initiated in 2024.

This is being accompanied by Netmap expert Jürg Honegger, who familiarized the Board of Directors with his Success Logic® in an initial workshop.

Saphir co-authored this article on behalf of the SGO with the aim of making the strategy process accessible to interested parties who are not directly involved.

Media representatives were also present at the Community Forum 2023. Regionaljournal Zürich Schaffhausen broadcast an audio report on the topic, which you can play from timestamp 7:34 min.

Statements by Saphir Ben Dakon can also be heard in the report. Enjoy listening to it.

The editorial team, consisting of Managing Director Valeska Hoenen and Saphir Ben Dakon, has redesigned the text of the SGO annual report.

The aim of the SGO's annual report is to give interested parties an insight into the association's year and provide an outlook for the next financial year. The aim was to create transparency through the text and to guide members through the various areas of the association.