Forum of the Handicapped in North Lebanon
                  Model of the Application Strategies of the Preliminary Articles of Law 220/2000

The Forum of the Handicapped in North Lebanon (FOH) held a press conference on Wednesday 7 November at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the North, for launching its project entitled Model of the Application Strategies of the Preliminary Articles of Law 220/2000 within the framework of the AFKAR II program for strengthening the Lebanese civil society, which is funded by EU and managed by OMSAR.

                                                          

This event was attended by around 100 persons, among whom the main stakeholders of the project, the heads of the Tripoli and Mina municipalities, representatives from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, the National Institution for Employment, the Syndicate of Hospital Owners, members from the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture in the North, in addition to local and scout movements, and a number of handicapped persons.  

The conference started with the national hymn, then FOH president Mr. Nabil Abed spoke about the NGO’s dedicated work towards the ratification and implementation of law 220/2000 pertaining to the rights of the handicapped. He also stressed the importance of adopting this cause by the different stakeholders and the role each will have to play. 

OMSAR representative Mrs. Jocelyne Assaf praised the successful collaboration of OMSAR with FOH ever since the national lobbying campaign for the implementation of the law 220/2000 in 2005-2006, which led to the renewal of this collaboration for the implementation of these preliminary articles in Tripoli and Mina as a model to be followed. 

As for the Heads of the Tripoli and Mina municipalities, they assured their full commitment to adopt all the activities aiming at the full reintegration of the handicapped, particularly the measures related to the rights of the handicapped to architectural and transportation facilities. 

The conference ended with a presentation of the project’s main objectives and activities, which will concern many sectors of law 220/2000, such as the right of the handicapped to education, work, transportation, sports, leisure, and social life, just like the rest of the citizens who fully enjoy their rights and obligations.   

The project’s main objectives are:

• Training session for public and private school teachers on how to avoid moral violence towards handicapped students, adapt with their integration, and deal with them.
• Architectural rehabilitation campaign for private and public schools
• National conference for sensitizing public and private school directors on the  right  of the handicapped to education and integration
• Awareness campaigns addressed to all students about the cause of the handicapped
• National conference addressed to public and private employment institutions about the right of the handicapped to work
• Architectural rehabilitation campaign for main roads, places of worship, and tourism locations in Tripoli and Mina
• Training session about the right of the handicapped to transportation addressed to municipal police and internal security forces.
• Establishing a parking lot for the handicapped in order to facilitate their transportation
• Summer scout camp for raising awareness about the right of the handicapped to practice different kinds of sports
• National conference about religion and handicap
• Full media campaign throughout the project execution phase