The Disability Monitor Initiative- Middle East Journal
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The Disability Monitor Initiative- Middle East Journal issue 1 February 2009 Inside you will find: Editorial: Social Protection for Social Inclusion: So Much Remains to be Done. Alexandre Cote, Governance and Social Inclusion Advisor . SI.EM.PRE Social Protection: a Favour or a Right? Marie-Noëlle AbiYaghi, Regional Research Officer, Handicap Interna- tional, Middle East. Social Protection and Disability in Brief. Dorothea Rischewski - Planning Officer, Social Protection Section / Stephanie Köstermenke - Intern, Social Protection Section / Rapha- ela Nix - Intern, Social Protection Section / Sanna Stockstrom - Planning Officer, Social Protection Section SOCIAL PROTECTION Social Protection and Persons with Disabilities in the Laws: Recognized Rights and Unframed Provisions. Muhannad Alazzeh, Regional Advocacy Coordinator. Handicap AND PERSONS WITH International, Middle East. Ensuring Access to Social Services: a Condition to Mitigate A DISABILITY IN THE Risk of Poverty among Persons with Disabilities. Darryl Barrett, Disability Services Coordinator, Handicap Interna- tional, Middle East. MIDDLE EAST: Gate Keeping: Urgent Need for Reform to Ensure Fair and Effective Access to Social Protection Entitlements. ISSUES, CHALLENGES Alexandre Cote, Governance and Social Inclusion Advisor . SI.EM.PRE Initiative for Proper Gate-Keeping: the Rights and Access Programme. Lebanon. AND DEBATES Ms. Hyam Fakhoury, responsible for the Research and Development Unit/Rights and Access, Ministry of Social Affairs, Lebanon Can Cash Transfers Reduce Inequality for Persons with Disabilities? Afrah Al Ahmadi, Senior Human Development Specialist, World Bank, Yemen Country Office Cash Transfers and Persons with Disabilities: the case of Yemen. Adib Nehmeh, PA for Poverty Reduction Policies UNDP, SURF-AS Health Insurance for Persons with Disabilities: Real Practices or Pure Wishes? Views from public official, Jordan, and Civil Society, Palestine. Rima Canawati, Bethlehem Arab Society and Dr Munther Ammari,, Ministry of Health, Jordan. Exemptions for Persons with Disabilities: a Vaccine Against Exclusion? The Debate… Nasser Jaber, President of the Bethlehem Sport Club of Disabled, Palesyine and Amer Makarem President of theYouth Association of the Blind, Lebanon. Useful Links and Bibliography. What’s Next? Disability Monitor Initiative-Middle East, (DMI-ME) Monitoring Legislative Change, Social Innovation and Public Policies Location local actors including Disabled Peoples Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Organizations (DPOs), service providers Iraq, Yemen and local authorities. The methodology behind the DMI-ME is to gather information Launched by CBM and Handicap on a local level through field work within international, together with, Bethlehem Handicap International (HI), CBM or Arab Society for Rehabilitation, Arab partner projects in order to have first hand Organization of Disabled People, Lebanese information. It includes consulting with Physical Handicapped Union and Al Hussein people with disabilities, their representative Society for Habilitation/ Rehabilitation of the organisations, service providers, as well as Physically Challenged Advance and Atfaluna local and national authorities. , The Disability Monitor Initiative (DMI) for Middle East is an advocacy initiative that Monitoring legislations gathers and disseminates information on The DMI-ME will monitor the evolution relevant disability topics underpinning the of legislation of all Arab countries with move towards full participation and equal regards to the compliance or not with the opportunities of people with disabilities. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of DMI-ME is primarily based on field research Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). consulting with people with disabilities, service providers, members of civil society, Monitoring Public Policies government officials and local authorities. Often the missing links between socially The objectives of the DMI-ME are to build innovative practices and upgraded up knowledge on the situation of people with legislation is the development of sound disabilities, examine best practices in terms public policies. In the Middle East, a key of social innovation happening on the grass- focus of the DMI-ME will be the monitoring roots level as well as to inform about policy of development and enforcement of public reforms on the national and international policies and allocation of public resources. levels. The aim is that the DMI-ME will serve Attention will be paid to budgeting issues, as a tool for reporting on critical issues decentralization, and institutional capacities affecting people with disabilities in an effort to enforce legislation. The DMI-ME will to support the empowerment of relevant also pay a special attention to policies of stakeholders with information. multilateral and bilateral agencies as they can strongly influence local stakeholders Monitoring social innovation: both from civil society and public sector. One of the key features of the DMI-ME is whilst disseminating information, it A combined perspective monitors social innovation carried out by In this way the DMI-ME has a unique Disability Monitor Initiative-Middle East Disability Monitor Initiative-Middle East 11 NovemberFebruary 2009 2008 Issue. Issue. November 2008 Issue. 2 perspective on disability issues; it looks at national development frameworks, in both the macro level policies in place while collaboration with policy-makers and civil monitoring how these policies translate society groups. into practice and how these practices impact the lives of people with disabilities. The Making It Work initiative is based The DMI-ME should contribute actively to around four clear objectives: making available knowledge that will help stakeholders in the implementation of the 1. To develop the capacity of UNCRPD. The objective of the DMI-ME stakeholders (at local, national and is to be an advocacy tool to monitor and regional levels) to collect information on facilitate the sharing of knowledge on the key disability issues and practices that ways that local organisations, authorities uphold the principles of the UNCRPD. and international agencies develop and support reforms that promote and 2. To develop the capacity of enable the full participation of people with stakeholders to use this information disabilities. to produce thematic reports and working papers with clear policy The Disability Monitor Initiative- recommendations. Middle East and the Making It Work project 3. To develop the capacity of The ratification of the UNCRPD sets a stakeholders to monitor the major challenge: how to bridge the huge implementation of the report gap that exists between the standards recommendations and any subsequent set by this international convention and changes in policy. the actual standards of existing services, systems and policies, particularly in low 4. To facilitate the international exchange or middle income countries. The central of these reports through an interactive aim for Making it Work is to reduce this website. gap through processes of information dissemination and exchange, and in Making It Work builds upon lessons doing so, to promote a model for inclusive learned through the Disability Monitor development. The purpose of this initiative Initiatives in both South East Europe is to develop a monitoring tool that will (www.disabilitymonitor-see.org) and the support the collection and exchange Middle East and also the work of Source of information about inclusive disability (www.asksource.info) in managing an policies and practices. The goal is to international information exchange system. promote a bottom-up approach to inclusive development, where actors and agencies The guidelines for the development of such working at the field level (particularly initiatives will be elaborated based on the in countries where there are limited South East Europe and the Middle East resources) have the opportunity to influence Disability Monitor Initiatives. Disability Monitor Initiative-Middle East February 2009 Issue. 2 Index Editorial: Social Protection for Social Inclusion: So Much Remains to be Done. 1 Alexandre Cote, Governance and Social Inclusion Advisor . SI.EM.PRE Social Protection: a Favour or a Right? Marie-Noëlle AbiYaghi, Regional Research Officer, Handicap International, Middle East. 6 Social Protection and Disability in Brief. Dorothea Rischewski - Planning Officer, Social Protection Section / Stephanie Köstermenke - Intern, Social Protection Section / Raphaela Nix - Intern, Social Protection Section / Sanna 10 Stockstrom - Planning Officer, Social Protection Section Social Protection and Persons with Disabilities in the Laws: Recognized Rights and Unframed Provisions. 13 Muhannad Alazzeh, Regional Advocacy Coordinator. Handicap International, Middle East. Ensuring Access to Social Services: a Condition to Mitigate Risk of Poverty among Persons with Disabilities. 15 Darryl Barrett, Disability Services Coordinator, Handicap International, Middle East. Gate Keeping: Urgent Need for Reform to Ensure Fair and Effective Access to Social Protection Entitlements. 18 Alexandre Cote, Governance and Social Inclusion Advisor . SI.EM.PRE Members of the DMI-ME Steering Committee: Al Hussein Initiative for Proper Gate-Keeping: the Rights and Access Society for Habilitation/ Programme. Lebanon. 20 Rehabilitation of the Ms. Hyam Fakhoury, responsible for the Research and Development Unit/Rights and Access, Ministry of Social Affairs, Lebanon Physically Challenged, the