Persons with Disabilities in the National Policy Agenda

Mr. Ziad Amr, Coordinator of the Supreme Council for the Affairs of Persons with disabilities, spoke from Ramallah about the current situation of disabled people in Palestine and the different kinds of challenges. In his view, only 2% of disabled people worked in the civil service, despite the stipulation of the law to include at least 5%. The rights of disabled persons were not respected, and the national agenda has not created a real environment to change that.

Mr. Hussien Abu Mansour, an expert on rehabilitation for people with disabilities, spoke about the new statistics of the disabled people in the Gaza Strip. He noted that the disability rate in Gaza reached 6.8%. It means that about 128 thousand people are disabled, and the ratio of men is higher to women due to the Israeli wars.

Invited guests from the NGOs and civil society organizations that work with persons with disabilities had a deep discussion with the speakers. It was emphasized that the adopted laws of the national agenda should be respected for the people with disabilities, and they should be integrated into the civil service and in the private sector.