Palestinian civil defense – our first station

Raghad Hamdan

Proceeding from the fact that protection and safety is a basic right of all segments of society in particular persons with disabilities the Social Developmental Forum carried out Kaif Shaifha tour for the second time within the activities of Wasla 2 program which included 3 listening sessions led by young people, our first stop was at the Palestinian Civil Defense Center-Gaza Governorate to learn more about securing the lives of persons with disabilities during periods of aggression and knowing the most important challenges they face in emergency situations.
We set off together at our first stop and headed to the Central Civil Defense, where we had an interview each of Major Ibrahim Abu Al-Rish, director of the Tel Al-Hawa branch, and Colonel Raed Al-Dahshan, director of the Civil Defense in the Gaza Governorate and their official media spokesperson, in addition to the head of the Fire and Rescue Department, Captain Alaa Al-Muaizi, who briefed us on attitudes of persons with disabilities, how were they prepared to deal with them, and the most prominent challenges they faced during the period of aggression.
In the meeting, Major Ibrahim spoke about the tasks of the Civil Defense and its departments, and explained its mechanism of work during emergencies and the challenges it faces, especially when dealing with persons with disabilities, where there were specific exercises to deal with this category.
After listening to the speakers of our station, it became clear to us how to evacuate and secure the lives of persons with disabilities in emergency situations, and how field teams reached them to help them this in turn gave us a set of questions, the most important of which was the extent to which persons with disabilities are included in the emergency plans developed by the Central Civil Defense.
After two hours of interesting dialogue filled with important information, we presented our recommendations to the Central Civil Defense, the most important of which are providing a signal interpreter in civil defense centers, harmonizing news releases, and involving persons with disabilities in emergency plans.
Finally, our presence in one place with officials and decision-makers gave us the opportunity to express more of our opinions and rights and made us more confident in ourselves, believing in our abilities as an influential youth maker of change.