SDF and MAP launch “Access for All” project
In partnership with our strategic partner, Medial Aid For Palestinians (MAP), the SDF launched “Access for all,” a significant effort to enhance the Independence and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in the Gaza Strip.
The one-year project will promote and advocate for the rights and well-being of People with disabilities in the northern, middle, and southern areas of the Gaza Strip.
Through fostering access to fundamental human needs, promoting participation in local communities, and ensuring responsiveness and accountability measures by service providers, the project not only aims to enhance the independence of persons with disabilities in the Gaza Strip, but also other marginalised communities.
The project’s target audience is 75,000 persons in the Gaza Strip, %60 of them should be PWDs, and the rest are other “left behind” segments in the Gaza strip, such women IDPs.
A new youth network
The project also provides a platform to foster youth’s agency in advancing accessibility and inclusion. A dedicated youth network of 3o young leaders with and without disability will be launched. The network members will participate in capacity-building training on leading community responsiveness efforts and conducting mass community needs assessments. The network members will also lead 12 local community interventions that respond to the immediate needs of marginalised communities in the Gaza Strip.
Accountability and Advocacy
The project integrates inclusion with accountability through advocacy. This effort will highlight the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip for over a year and a half, which has catastrophic consequences on youth and people with disabilities.
The project will also include a strategic advocacy campaign that aims to foster inclusion, accountability, and accessibility for people with disability. Youth will also lead social accountability sessions to provide recommendations that advance inclusivity and accessibility.
This project complements SDF’s efforts to promote the resilience of the Palestinian community, the integration of youth in emergency response, and expanding relief efforts to maximise reach for IDPs. SDF is committed to fostering youth agency in empowering marginalised communities.”
Abeer Al Abyad, Head of Projects
The project also includes humanitarian relief efforts that entail distributing hygiene supplies, fresh and non-perishable food parcels to PWDs and IDPs.
Over 4000 displaced families are expected to receive food and hygiene supplies a couple of times during the project phase. This effort reflects SDF’s commitment to promoting the resilience of the Palestinian community, especially people with disabilities.
Read: From Gaza to Brussels: SDF’s Advocacy for Youth, Peace, and Security in the Mediterranean
The project will also support SDF’s beneficiaries’ system, aiming to foster accessibility to aid supplies and promote fair and transparent distribution and targeting wider communities.
SDF incorporates a variety of local stakeholders in implementing this project. This includes people with disabilities, UN agencies, especially OCHA, WHO, and humanitarian clusters. SDF is considering establishing an advisory group for stakeholders of the project, which will complement efforts of inclusion and accessibility.
It is worth mentioning that SDF has been leading, since the onset of the Israeli genocide in October 2023, a national relief response program “Together For Palestine” to promote the resilience of the displaced community in the Gaza Strip.
Since October 2023, SDF has collaborated with MAP and other local and international partners, along with the SDF’s dynamic youth network, to support the displaced communities through providing a variety of food and non-food supplies.