Hundreds of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) and representatives of rehabilitation organizations and various sectors of civil society participated in the annual event organized by the Rehabilitation Sector of the of the Palestinian NGOs Network on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in front of the Council of Ministers in Gaza. The event held as part of the Democracy Promotion and NGOs Capacity Building Project in partnership with Norwegian People's Aid (NPA).

The event was held to support the Palestinian national reconciliation and demand protection for PwD and ensure their participation in decision-making at all levels as well as to demand the implementation and activation of all provisions of the Palestinian Disability Law. Participants raised banners that call for reconciliation and to end the internal division, also they demand the government to guarantee the rights of PwD to education and health.

The participants raised banners "I Appeal to You for Reconciliation", "I'm Not Incapable – My Power lies in the Creativity and Ability to Give", "How About empowering PwD in Health, Education, Rehabilitation and Employment; The Absent Rights!''. Others raised banners: "The Israeli Occupation Disrupts and Thwarts the Process of Reconciliation", " Yes for Hunger Elimination", and "Where are Rights of PwD in Palestinian Government's Plan for the Gaza Strip?".

Director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, Amjad Shawa, said that the event organized to support the Palestinian national reconciliation and reject all that may obstruct achieving the reconciliation. Shawa said, "the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is the occasion that we are supposed to celebrate by empowering the rights of PwD, so we came here to demand the basic rights stipulated in the Palestinian law including the Disability Law; in which many of its provisions are still not implemented.''

Shawa also called upon the decision-makers to create an empowering environment for PwD, particularly ensuring their rights to health, education and employment opportunities, and right to obtain disability card that people with disabilities have been waiting for long. He said that "We came here to the building of the Council of Ministers to say that the real empowerment is to empower our people particularly persons with disabilities to their basic rights, since they have paid the highest price for the political division and Israeli occupation's blockade and have been marginalized and have experienced the tragedy of living in such harsh circumstances in the hardest period for the Palestinian people."

Shawa called on the national consensus government to create a comprehensive plan to empower persons with disabilities and ensure their rights because they deserve it, not only because the Palestinian law provides for it, but they deserve the best for their patience, steadfastness and creativity and we will continue the struggle until we end the division, occupation and blockade in all its forms.

Disabled Palestinian young woman, Abeer Harkali, delivered the speech of PwD saying, "We hope that our country will be a friend of persons with disabilities, especially after President Mahmoud Abbas signed the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2014, and the benefits it entails, which include the adaptation of all Palestinian legislation and policies with the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities since they are Human Rights.''

Harkali stressed on the need to allocate larger budgets to improve the conditions of persons with disabilities as part of the Palestinian Development Plan at all levels.  She also stressed the importance of engaging PwD in developing plans, facing challenges and boosting sustainable development, just like our peers without disabilities.

She called to guarantee that PwD have the ability to participate in decision making based on the principle of rights and duties, and to ensure that PwD are an integral part of national reconciliation, which is an opportunity to the Palestinian civil society to start a new stage of justice and brotherhood demanding a better reality at the level of policies and procedures that make our country friendly to PwD.

Coordinator of PNGO Rehabilitation Sector, Naiem Kabaja, read out the statement issued by PNGO Rehabilitation Sector, stressing that the situation of PwD is worsening in humanitarian terms because of the current situation in the Gaza Strip, due to the ongoing Israeli blockade, the inability to travel outside the Gaza Strip, the deterioration of the economic and social situation; especially the high rates of poverty and unprecedented rates of unemployment which reached to 90.9% among PwD.

Kabaja pointed out that the event was intended to convey the messages of PwD and represent their voice to decision-makers as they are appealing to the Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to implement the laws relating to persons with disabilities in Palestine, in particular the Disability Law No. 4/1999 and the International Convention on Persons with Disabilities, signed by the State of Palestine in 2014.

Kabaja said, "The number of severely disabled in the Gaza Strip exceeds 45,000 persons in addition to tens of thousands of persons with moderate and light disabilities."

Kabaja, in the name of PNGO Rehabilitation Sector, called upon the government to expedite the takeover of its functions in the Gaza Strip. He also called upon the government to fulfill its obligations to PwD through the implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Palestinian Disability Law.

The participants of the event called to support PwD at the economic and social levels and called to involve them in national decision-making processes as being an integral part of the Palestinian society. The participants also called for the creation of a special plan for the development of the Rehabilitation Sector in the Gaza Strip and for the support of the organizations working with persons with disabilities.

The participants hope that their appeal will be answered and the issue of disability will be considered as a national priority that needs attention and care.