Austrian Inclusion Award: 2023 award goes to first advocacy organisation for women with disabilities

Yesterday evening, the Austrian Inclusion Award was presented for the sixth time, with one winning project per federal state being honoured and a nationwide winner of the 2023 sponsorship award being chosen.

The Inclusion Award is an initiative of Austrian Lotteries together with Lebenshilfe Österreich; it was launched in 2016 to honour flagship projects from all over Austria and to draw attention to how we can work together to make our society even more inclusive. These projects serve as an inspiration as well as a role model. Since its launch, Austrian Lotteries and Lebenshilfe have jointly awarded the Austrian Inclusion Prize to projects that show how inclusion can succeed.

Every year there is a new theme on the basis of which projects can be submitted. This year’s focus was “Social Participation & Politics”, with one winning project per federal state being honoured. Each year, Austrian Lotteries awards a 5,000 euro sponsorship prize to one project that stands out in particular.

Erwin van Lambaart, Director General of Austrian Lotteries, commented: “We are very proud that we were once again able to invite numerous successful examples of inclusion onto the stage this year. The Inclusion Award shows how many incredibly great and innovative ideas there are in Austria to bring the social participation of people with disabilities up to the same level as everyone else. This year’s record number of submissions also underlines the important function that the Inclusion Award plays in our society. We congratulate all the winners and are particularly pleased that we can support the valuable work of an advocacy organisation for women with disabilities with the 2023 award.”

This year’s winner of the sponsorship award is the project “FmB – Interessenvertretung Frauen* mit Behinderungen” (“FmB - Representation of the interests of women* with disabilities”). The aim of the organisation is to create a nationwide network that offers comprehensive access and that women with disabilities can turn to. Until now, there has been no such independent organisation in Austria – and no dedicated safe space for women in particular.

Austrian Lotteries has been assuming socio-political responsibility for decades, and we put the people at the centre of all this. Equal opportunities and a respectful interaction with each other are being promoted in line with the motto “Playsponsible – Practicing Responsibility Together”. All winners of this year’s Austrian Inclusion Award, as well as those of previous years, can be found at www.inklusionslandkarte.