NNA – In a press release by the United Nations Information Centre, it said: “UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Disability and Accessibility Lenin Boltaire Moreno Garces began his official visit to Lebanon by meeting with Minister of Social Affairs Rachid Derbass. He also met today with Foreign Minister Gerban Bassil and took part in a roundtable discussion hosted by Beirut Municipality on the rights of persons with disabilities.”
Release added: “With the Minister of Social Affairs, Moreno Garces discussed how the UN and the Lebanese Government can improve their collaboration to ensure the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.”
“We should work together for the full participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities in public life in Lebanon,” said Moreno Garces.
He called for the ratification by the Lebanese Republic of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, signed in 2007, and for the implementation of laws and policies, in particular Law 220/2000 related to this issue. He also stressed the importance of ensuring inclusive education to all.
At the roundtable organized by the Municipality of Beirut, Moreno Garces highlighted the Sustainable Development Goals adopted last year by the UN, specifically Goal 11 (Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable), which implicitly reflects the importance of developing and enforcing building regulations and codes that provide accessibility to all.
“The most difficult barriers to overcome are man-made. It is the societies that disable. It is imperative to transform the discriminatory mentality into a culture of inclusion and accessibility through an agenda of true urban development,” he added.
Release concluded: “Tomorrow, Moreno Garces will visit the Bekaa. He will tour a center of the Ministry of Social Affairs for people with disabilities in Taanayel at 9:00 a.m. He will also meet with local officials and Lebanese residents, as well as Syrian refugees with disability, and with the Lebanese Physical Handicap Union in Baalbek. He will conclude his field visit with a press conference at 13:00 inside the Baalbek Temple.”
