Press release
…………………………………………
Tuesday, December 7, 2021, the Studies and Research Unit of the Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue issued a report entitled: (How are People of Determination Politically and Economically Empowered in Egypt).
The report confirmed that disability It is a human rights issue for some reasons, including: that people with disabilities suffer from inequality such as being denied equal access to health care, work, education or political participation; or when they are exposed to violations of their dignity also when they are subjected to violence, abuse, prejudice or disrespect because of their disability.
The report shed Light on local laws in Egypt, and some efforts and achievements reached by those countries in order to achieve political and economic empowerment for individuals with determination, in addition to the efforts of the League of Arab States to improve the conditions for their empowerment. The report addressed a number of themes, most notably:
First: International conventions for people with disabilities
The report dealt with the fact that to preserve the rights of persons with disabilities, and to obligate different countries to them and to give universal character to those rules, many agreements were issued in this context that would enhance the status of persons with disabilities in various countries.
Second: Empowering people with disabilities in the Arab world
The report confirmed that Important developments have taken place in recent years, with regard to institutional and legal frameworks to protect the rights of persons with disabilities in Arab countries, Thirteen countries have established national coordination mechanisms on disability, most of which are national disability councils. At the level of national legal frameworks, 12 Arab countries have included articles on disability in their constitutions. Comprehensive laws on disability exist in 16 Arab countries and Sudan and Jordan were the most recent countries to adopt new laws on disability in order to bring greater compliance with international standards in 2017..
In addition, 17 Arab countries have set an employment quota for persons with disabilities in the public and private sectors. For example, Algerian law requires that at least 1% of the employees of any institution be persons with disabilities. The quota rises to 2% in Bahrain, 5% in Egypt and Iraq, and 7% in Morocco.
The report stated that there are some Arab organizations that are concerned with the affairs of people with special needsThe Arab Charter on Human Rights included an article stressing the need to pay attention to the rights of people with special needs. The League of Arab States organized an event on protecting the rights of persons with disabilities in epidemics and crises in June 2021, and that event received high-level participation from ministers of development and affairs and senior officials in Arab countries. There is the Arab Organization for Persons with Disabilities, and the Arab Labor Organization, which support their political and economic empowerment, and conduct many workshops and seminars to integrate people of determination into the 2030 sustainable development plan.
Third: The Egyptian efforts to empower people with special needs
People with disabilities have suffered from marginalization and exclusion for many years, but with the June 30th revolution the situation has changed completely as the state has been keen to achieve comprehensive empowerment for them, and is keen to involve all groups in political life, especially groups that need more support such as youth, women and people with special needs .
The 2014 constitution, which was drafted in the wake of the June 30 revolution, guarantees the first and most important steps to empower people with special needs politically, economically and socially. The Parliament included 8 representatives with disabilities who exercised a strong role and a prominent effort to support the issues of people with disabilities.
The year 2018 was designated to be the year of people with special needs, during which the state adopted many initiatives, decisions and laws to support and care for people with disabilities, the most prominent of which was the issuance of Law No. 10 of 2018, known as the People with Special Needs Law, which stipulated many rights, privileges and gains for this category in various fields. Fields of life, whether in the field of education, health, work or pension.
In early 2019, Law No. 11 of 2019 was issued regarding the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, which granted the Council technical, financial and administrative independence, and gave it the right to report to public authorities any violation related to its field of work.
People with determination was one of the objectives of the strategy National Human Rights (2021-2026)Emphasizing the Egyptian state’s interest in them and their rights in society, empowering them in society and integrating them in all economic, social, cultural and political fields. The strategy includes several axes that emphasize the need to increase societal awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities. The strategy aims to integrate students with disabilities into the classroom, enhance opportunities for equitable access to education, and provide all possible facilities to receive educational services.. In addition to the above, the Egyptian state has taken care of integrating people of determination into the 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy.
The report concluded by emphasizing that Arab countries are making utmost efforts to achieve economic and political empowerment of persons with disabilities, as various laws stress the need to integrate persons with disabilities into the labor market to achieve economic empowerment, provide a better standard of living and eliminate unemployment among this group. Egypt continuously provides support and issues legislation to empower people with economic and political needs.
