Sana'a - Saba:
The Ministry of Social Affairs , Labor and its affiliates seek to provide support and care for people with disabilities, based on the directives of the Revolution Leader , Sayyid Abdulmalik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and the priorities of the Government of Change and Construction, which made the rights of people with disabilities special brigades.
The efforts of the Social Affairs and Labor Ministry come within the framework of strengthening the position of people with disabilities in society and empowering them with their rights, especially in light of the increasing numbers of this category, as a result of the repercussions and effects of the aggression and blockade, which doubled the percentage of disabled people, by about 15 percent of the Yemeni population, or about four million and 500 thousand people, according to statistics of organizations operating in the country.
In a report obtained by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor revealed the tragic effects of the aggression on this group, indicating that the aggression caused the destruction of a number of infrastructure and the closure of more than 200 associations, service institutions, care houses and civil organizations working in the field of persons with disabilities due to financial conditions and their inability to pay their various operational expenses.
The report states that thousands of disabled people in various categories have been displaced from one province and region to another, living in tragic psychological, social , health conditions and in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, noting that more than 200,000 disabled people are in need of school requirements and assistive devices to reach schools.
It pointed out that more than 170,000 disabled people have been deprived of social security benefits since the beginning of the aggression, and 11,500 disabled and disabled employees have been deprived of their monthly salaries over the years of aggression and blockade, and 90 percent of all persons with disabilities live below the poverty line and in very difficult humanitarian conditions due to the aggression and blockade.
According to the report, the aggression has caused the interruption of medicines and treatments for a large number of people with disabilities, especially those who need drugs and medicines on an ongoing basis, due to the high prices of these medicines and also because the Fund for the Disabled stopped paying them, the difficult financial conditions, and the blockade imposed on the country.
Thousands of people with disabilities suffer from the lack of prosthetic devices , aids that enable them to move and move around, such as wheelchairs, crutches, prosthetic limbs, hearing aids, canes for the blind, and others, in addition to the death of large numbers of people with disabilities due to the closure of airports and their inability to travel to treatment abroad, in addition to the death of large numbers of people with disabilities.
Regarding the future directions of the government of change and construction for persons with disabilities, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, in cooperation with the Fund for the Welfare of the Disabled and the National Union for the Disabled, initiated procedures to update the law of the Fund for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled, to ensure the addition of new resources and guarantee the rights, care and protection of persons with disabilities, through a seminar "Modernizing and developing the legislative structure for persons with disabilities", held in mid-December - with the participation of 45 representatives of government and non-governmental agencies and civil society organizations.
The workshop came up with a set of important recommendations, most notably reviewing legal texts to serve the rights and interests of people with disabilities, removing ambiguity in some texts, creating a harmonious legal environment and including all legal texts to enable people with disabilities to enjoy their rights, and including them in all laws of different sectors, as well as forming a committee representing various stakeholders with the involvement of leaders with disabilities to review Law No. 61 of 1999 on the care and rehabilitation of the disabled to include provisions that include all the rights of people with disabilities.
The government's directives regarding the disabled included the implementation of economic empowerment projects for persons with disabilities and their families; the first phase was launched this month on the occasion of the National, Arab and International Day of Persons with Disabilities for 500 cases from different provinces in various fields from all associations , centers, honoring innovators and talented persons with disabilities.
The Ministry of Social Affairs is continuing its efforts to complete the implementation of the project to provide white loans to persons with disabilities , their families, to empower them economically in the fields of agriculture, livestock and fisheries - for the year 1446 AH - for 1,000 cases within the projects of the National Vision for State Building and providing cash assistance to 100,000 cases of persons with disabilities.
According to Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Samir Bajjala, the government's directives include establishing and equipping an "Al-Ihsan" hospital that specializes in medical services for people with disabilities.
He stressed that persons with disabilities, including children, will be given their share of international assistance, interventions, services and grants in the fields of health, medical, education, training and rehabilitation, economic empowerment, small income-generating projects, shelter, non-food items, multi-purpose cash assistance and food security; in accordance with their percentage in society and in accordance with local and international legislation and laws, through the implementation of the resource mobilization project for services, needs and projects for persons with disabilities and their institutions at the province level, as well as enabling them from government jobs and the private sector.
The hopes and aspirations of persons with disabilities remain pinned on concerted official and popular efforts to support them and overcome the challenges and suffering they are going through in light of the aggression and blockade, and to work on everything that would improve their conditions, meet their aspirations and give them the rights they deserve for their steadfastness and fortitude alongside the Yemeni people over the past ten years.
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