The Ministries of Transport and Public Works and Social Affairs signed a report on the implementation of the National Strategy for Persons with Disabilities
The Minister of Transport and Public Works, Mohammed Qahim, and the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Samir Bajaala, signed the report on the implementation of the National Strategy for Persons with Disabilities and its executive matrix, with regard to the transport and public works sector.
The report included the inclusion of matters related to the Ministry of Transport and Public Works and its affiliated institutions in the matrix of the strategy’s executive plan within the ministry’s plans, as well as cooperation, coordination, and participation with other entities implementing the activities and services included in the executive plan.
It also included a legal amendment granting persons with disabilities and their companions a 70 percent discount on the original and actual ticket price for air tickets and land transportation, as well as exempting wheelchairs for people with mobility disabilities from air freight costs. The agreement includes cooperation and coordination between the Fund for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled and the Ministry of Transport and Public Works on all matters related to disability, enabling persons with disabilities to access services through the ministry and its affiliated institutions with ease.
It also requires government and private transportation companies to provide transportation facilities for persons with disabilities, and directs Yemenia Airlines to give priority to persons with disabilities when departing abroad via Sana’a International Airport during the period during which our country is subjected to brutal aggression and blockade. It also requires owners of shops, malls, service facilities, and other establishments in the capital and governorates to prepare their facilities for easy access by persons with disabilities, and to allocate nearby parking spaces for them, including at airports.
The agreement stipulates that the Ministry of Transport and Public Works shall circulate to its offices in the capital and governorates not to grant licenses for the construction of new government or private buildings unless they are accessible to persons with disabilities. Furthermore, it directs Yemenia Airlines to allocate a person to facilitate the procedures of persons with disabilities at airports and to provide elevators to assist persons with mobility disabilities when boarding and disembarking aircraft. Under the agreement, the Disabled Care and Rehabilitation Fund will assist the Ministry and its affiliated institutions in providing the necessary standards and requirements.
During the signing, the Ministers of Transport and Public Works and Social Affairs and Labor indicated that this agreement represents a translation of the directives of the Leader of the Revolution, Sayyid Abdulmalik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, to care for people with disabilities and implement the program of the Government of Change and Construction, which has given great attention to vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities.
They emphasized the importance of coordination and regular follow-up to implement the agreement on the ground so that people with disabilities can feel its results in all public and private facilities and places.
The signing was attended by Othman Al-Salwi, Deputy Executive Director of the Disabled Care and Rehabilitation Fund and Head of the Monitoring and Follow-up Team for Implementing the National Strategy for Persons with Disabilities.
