Egypt to upgrade transportation system to accommodate the disabled

CAIRO- 30 April 2017: Means of transportation will be enhanced in order to facilitate the movement of citizens with special needs, Secretary-General of the National Council for Disability Affairs (NCDA) Ashraf Marie said on Sunday.

“The council will work alongside the minister of military production on providing transportation with special cranes to help handicapped people,” Marie said in a press conference at the cabinet headquarters, adding that a project will be launched to teach deaf people reading and writing, since 99 percent of them are illiterates.

Marie discussed with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Waly the efforts to implement the National Youth Conference’s recommendation to make 2018 the ‘Year of Defying Disability”.

The meeting also discussed the Accountability State Authority’s report regarding the NCDA’s budget and strategy. During the meeting, an agreement was reached to form a committee within the health ministry to solve the problems of people with special needs.

People with special needs face marginalization in Egypt as they lack the resources needed to facilitate their lives despite constituting a substantial portion of the general population.

A 2014 study by HRDO Center to Support the Digital Expression put the number of People with special needs in Egypt at more than 10 million.