Within the framework of the 16-day campaign of activities to eliminate violence against women launched by the National Council for Women under the slogan “Koony” or “Be”, the Council organized a meeting to launch the research “Towards friendly governorates for women and girls with disabilities and mothers of people with disabilities” under the slogan “With accessibility, we achieve our dream” in the presence of Professor Maha Hilali, alternate rapporteur of the Women with Disabilities Committee and advisor to the Minister of Social Solidarity for Disability and Rehabilitation Affairs; Professor Sally Zaqli, responsible for the file on combating violence against women at the United Nations Population Fund; and several members of the committee.
In her speech, Professor Maha Hilali highlighted the efforts of Dr. Heba Hegras, Council Member and Committee Rapporteur, in supporting the issues of women with disabilities and people with disabilities in general, praising her contribution and guidance, which was of great service to the success of the research.
Moreover, she commended the efforts of the governors of Damietta, Beni Suef, Suez, and Assiut, as well as the rapporteurs of the Council’s branches and members of its branches in the disability chair in those governorates, for their role in supporting and assisting the work team when it goes to the governorates and everyone who contributed to the success of the research.
Hilali further discussed the initiative (a friendly governorate for people with disabilities) implemented by the committee in the years 2017 and 2018, stressing that the committee’s choice of this initiative came to meet the increased needs of women with disabilities in the governorates and that the implementation of such an initiative is considered a service to the segment of women with disabilities in the first place and service to all people with disabilities in general, explaining that this initiative resulted from research “Towards friendly governorates for women and girls with disabilities and mothers of people with disabilities,” which was launched initially in Beni Suef Governorate and then implemented in the governorates of Damietta, Suez, and Assiut.
The professor moved on to underline the importance of cooperation between the National Council for Women and Governors and their support for the idea of providing facilities for women and girls with disabilities and their families within the most frequented places in each governorate, which resulted in the availability of sidewalks on the main streets, as well as parks, gardens, the walkway on the Corniche, and public service places, in addition to accessible places of worship, and availability in the fields of education, health, and university, and in the fields of work, employment, housing, services, and educational & awareness raising centers.
In turn, Professor Sally Zaqli spoke about how to deal with the issue of women with disabilities and provide appropriate services in cases of violence at the United Nations Population Fund and their interest and support from the Permanent Fund for Women and Girls with Disabilities and mothers of people with disabilities, as they face great difficulties in the lack of appropriate availability in places, and the difficulty Access to classrooms, and the lack of teaching staff trained to deal with them, in addition to the fact that this segment already suffers from different types of violence, as they are women in the first place and also people with disabilities, so they face inadequate availability in workplaces or means of transportation, which plays a major role in obstructing the access of persons with disabilities to the jobs and professions in which they aspire to work.
On her part, Professor Yousra Hamza concluded the session by presenting the research results, including the research problem, its objectives, activities to achieve them, and recommendations.
