BASR holds a press conference for launching the disability equality policy document

Under the auspices of Governor of Bethlehem, Abdel Fattah Hamayel, Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation (BASR) and its partner, the General Union of Persons with Disabilities (GUPWDs), launched a Disability Equality Policy Document during a press conference organized at the Russian Cultural Centre in Bethlehem city.BASR said in a press release Tuesday that the participants of the conference comprised of more than 65 representatives of civil society, private sector and governmental institutions from the Bethlehem and Hebron districts.This press conference is part of the advocacy campaign that BASR and GUPWDs launched in the southern region of the West Bank, which aims at creating an appropriate environment condusive to dealing with disability issues from a human rights and development perspective, through ensuring the full and active participation of persons with disabilities and their inclusion in all aspects of development by all institutions and sectors.The number of organizations that already signed the Disability Equality Policy Document reached 40 from both the Bethlehem and Hebron districts. This was a positive gesture through which they showed their willingness and commitment to play an active role in advancing the rights of persons with disabilities, making the needed changes at their organizations, in terms of attitudinal, environmental and institutional levels, to accommodate them on equal footing with their peers and eliminating all forms of exclusion and discrimination against them. Signing this policy document is also a first step towards strengthening social corporate responsibility on the part of the local community.In the opening speech of the press conference, the Chair of BASR's Board acknowledged all the 40 institutions that signed the Disability Equality Policy Document and emphasized the substantive role of this campaign in influencing civil society practices towards promoting an inclusive society for all Palestinians, adding "Signing the Disability Equality Policy Document is just the first step and it should be followed by a series of steps to follow up on the measures that those organizations that signed the document have taken to promote the inclusion and full participation of persons with disabilities".The Chair of the Hebron branch of the Genral Union of Persons with Disabilities said "The goals of this campaign are based on the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, since disability is cross-sectoral and part of human diversity; it is a public responsibility, that all civil society organizations should share, rather than an individual case."Furthermore, the Governor of Bethlehem stated "The government, in partnership with BASR, is making all efforts needed to adapt public facilities in the southern areas to make them more accessible to people with different types of disability."Hence, the speeches were followed by a presentation of the major components of the Disability Equality Policy Document which is based on the human rights and development perspectives and the right of persons with disabilities to full citizenship and full participation and the right to freedom of choice and self-determination.