Al-Zawrak launched its project 
           The Right of the Persons Who Have Special Needs to Recruitment and Integration”.

Within Afkar II program for the enhancement of the Lebanese civil society, financed by the European Union and managed by OMSAR, Al-Zawrak Foundation launched during a press conference held on the 12th of February 2008 in Rotana Hotel-Hazmieh its project entitled “The Right of the Persons Who Have Special Needs to Recruitment and Integration”.

The General Director of Al-Zawrak Foundation, Mr. Roland Tamraz, said in the opening speech that from the very beginning, 22 years ago, the Foundation took it upon itself to strive for the integration of the persons who have special needs in the society and in the labor market. He noted that the project of Al-Zawrak within Afkar II program aims at enhancing the rights, bolstering the skills and facilitating the recruitment process of those persons. In this regard, Mr. Tamraz added that the project’s objective as a whole is the implementation of law 220/2000, in particular the articles relevant to the recruitment of the persons who have special needs, and the drafting of legal tools for this purpose.

                                     

The coordinator of Afkar II program, Ms. Youmna Ghoraib, said “we adopted the Al-Zawrak project since we believe in and are committed to asserting the human rights that are non discriminatory vis-à-vis the citizens”. She furthermore called for the transformation of the handicap into energy of contribution that can enrich the Lebanese society on all levels.

Al-Zawrak project’s consultant, Miss Lina Hamaoui, explained in detail the most important activities undertaken within the project, particularly the campaign for the implementation of law 220/2000, the legal study of the articles 73 and 74 relevant to recruitment, the establishment of the Social and Vocational Habilitation Center, the building of the associations’ capacities to work with the persons who have special needs and the networking between the different stakeholders for the implementation of the relevant law.

As for the Head of the Department of the Handicapped Persons Affairs, Ms. Corine Azar, she put forth the articles relevant to recruitment of law 220/2000, explained the process of their implementation and reviewed the situation in the field. She described the role played by the Ministry of Social Affairs in this regard and put forward suggestions allowing the implementation of the abovementioned law.
Ms. Rita Al-Ghaoui gave a general survey of the content of the legal study drafted by Ms. Maya Mansour, concerning the rights of the persons who have special needs to work in conformity with the international conventions and the Lebanese law n-220/2000.

                                       

As for Ms. Mariette Ziade and Mr. Joseph Kaii, they described the objectives of and the work within the Social and Vocational Habilitation Center as well as the role of the trainers.
The Head of the Department of Psychology in Saint-Joseph University, Mr. Antoine Romanos, stated that the integration of the persons who have special needs in the labor market is not an act of kindness rather an equitable right to be respected. He stressed the importance of replacing the concept of habilitation of the persons who have special needs by the concept of habilitation the society as a whole to assimilate them.

As for Alfa Human Resources manager, Ms. Pauline Nawar, she described the policy of Alfa towards the persons who have special needs.

During the press conference a petition was signed to rescue the rights of the persons who have special needs at work.

At 3:00 pm a round table was held during which the participants exchanged expertise and advanced suggestions regarding the draft of the legal study.