Justice Min. trains some real state employees to use sign language

CAIRO - 20 March 2019: Egypt's Ministry of Justice started its first training course for 22 employees working at the state's real estate departments in Giza and Cairo to use the sign language to help disabled people finish their papers.

The training comes as part of a cooperation protocol signed January between the Justice Ministry and the National Council for Disability Affairs.

The efforts made by the ministry and the council aim to provide various services to the disabled citizens, in accordance with article 5 of the minister of justice's decree of 2013 and article 32 of Law No. 10 of 2018, which stipulates the necessity to issue a law to guarantee the rights of the disabled.

During the course, employees will be trained on how to deal with citizens with hearing disabilities and ways to remove the obstacles they face while they are in the offices of the real estate departments.

Moreover, Egypt's Minister of Manpower Mohammed Saafan is set to hand 299 disabled people employment contracts for jobs provided by private sector companies.

In January, Egyptian Parliament gave a final approval on a draft law submitted by the government to establish the National Council for People with Disabilities, away from the National Council for Disabled Affairs (NCDA).

According to the draft law, the new Disabilities Council is an independent body that aims to promote, develop and protect the rights of persons with disabilities and their constitutional dignity.

The council shall enjoy technical, financial and administrative independence in performing its activities, functions and competences.

Concerning administration, the council shall consist of a president, a vice-president and 17 members with disabilities in addition to public figures with experience.

The formation decree shall be issued by Egypt's president based on the decision of the majority of members of the Parliament within three months from the date of promulgation of the law.

In December, Egypt's President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi allocated LE 80 million ($4.46 million) of the Tahya Misr Fund in support of people with special needs.

The president made the announcement while attending a celebration marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. "People with special needs in Egypt represent 9-10 percent of the total population", Sisi said.

In July 2018, President Sisi announced establishing a technical center for services for disabled persons, to be the first of its kind in Africa. The center will enable people with hearing or speech related disability to use technology to communicate through mobile phones.

During the inauguration of the seventh International Conference on Information Technology Convergence and Services for People with Disabilities (ICT4PwDs), Sisi also announced establishing an initiative that aims to enable disabled people to get services and information introduced by online websites of governmental institutions.

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