Youth towards change- Walaa AlSahar
Youth are the nation’s drive and hope for change, and out of this hope, the Social Development Forum implemented the “Keef Shaifha” tour, which includes an accountability session held by the Youth of Wasla program-2 at the Ministry of Social Development, about its work in providing services related to persons with disabilities.
We went together to the Ministry of Social Development in Gaza to get a better understanding of the nature of the services that are provided to people with disabilities. We spoke with Professor Ghassan Felfel, Director of the Rehabilitation Department at the Ministry, who briefed us on important aspects.
At the meeting, Professor Ghassan explained that the Ministry of Development stood in full swing in trying to meet the needs of people with disabilities, explaining the obstacles that the ministry faced in dealing with the Corona pandemic, especially with people with disabilities as there was no dedicated training to deal with this category.
It also became clear to us during “Keef Shaifha” tour, the mechanisms for dealing with people with disabilities during the quarantine period, the spread of the Corona pandemic in the Gaza Strip, and how people working in the field reached them for help.
We had many questions that we asked Professor Ghassan about, which resulted in an interesting dialogue full of information that is necessary to understand the reality of persons with disabilities living in the Gaza Strip.
Finally, we gave our recommendations to the Ministry of Social Development, which the most important is to ensure that it plays its full role towards persons with disabilities, and to intensify its efforts in aligning the headquarters and offices of the Ministry for people with disabilities.
The beautiful thing is that, upon completion of the dialogue and listening session, we felt the positive energy and power because of us being able to listen, ask, and make recommendations, which made us more believers in our ability to make a change and a great impact.