Last March 31st FPSC and Arcenciel organized a conference-debate on the issues of accessibility to public places and employment of people with disabilities at the Spanish Embassy in Lebanon.
The event took place in the context of the Agreement Improving social integration of disabled people in the Middle East through accessibility, financed by AECID, which aims to improve social integration of people with disabilities in the Middle East through specific accessibility measures in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Source: Arcenciel
This project complements the previous work, which took place in 2006-2010, devoted to improving assistance of disabled people through the development of infrastructure, community services and training programs in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Egypt.
This Agreement is ongoing at the moment. After its conclusion, it is expected that more than 50 public-ownership adaptations in the four countries, as well as vocational training and/ or employment opportunities for at least 560 people with disabilities will be achieved. Also, a digital platform will be set up with specific software and characteristics for its users.
The Ambassador of Spain in Lebanon, Milagros Hernando, opened the conference and talked about the cooperation between Spain and Lebanon and the answers of Spain to Lebanese needs.
Rafael Peró, representative of FPSC in Lebanon, analyzed the status of accessibility in the Middle East and the work of FPSC in this field through the Agreement, which is being developed in the region together with FPSC’ local partners: Yadan bi Yad – Syria, CEOSS – Egypt, Al Hussein Society (AHS) – Jordan, and Arcenciel – Lebanon.
Source: Arcenciel
Georges Xanthopoulos, representative of Arcenciel, showed the adaptations undertaken in Lebanon, as well as the network of civil society/public/private. Ralph Koury, Human Resources representative of INDEVCO – Sanita S.A.L., talked about the involvement of the private sector. Ayad Wakim, representative of Arcenciel gave his own testimony about the importance of accessibility in the daily life of a disabled person.
To sum up, Georges Xanthopoulos introduced the web portal services of www.accessibilityforpwd.org, its contents and its intranet use.