Egypt’s NIGSD concludes the training program "Disability Awareness"

The National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), the training arm of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, concluded the training program "Disability Awareness" implemented by the Institute in cooperation with The German Agency for International Cooperation or (GIZ).

The training took place within the framework of the project to strengthen reform initiatives in the state's administrative apparatus, in two batches during October.
Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development who is acting also as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), stressed that the issue of people with special needs is of great importance in the developmental orientation of the Egyptian state, as this category comes at the forefront of the determinants of development programs and plans in Egypt.

 El-Said pointed out that people with special needs are a large segment of Egyptian society, among whom there are many distinguished models scientifically and mathematically and in various fields.
 El-Said stressed that the state views them as a major part of the workforce and an important component of the enormous human wealth that society enjoys.
She added that the state seeks to maximize benefit from it within the framework of the broader trend of investing in people. El-Said added that the Egyptian constitution guarantees a set of rights for people with special needs.

She explained that the National Agenda for Sustainable Development; Egypt's Vision 2030 included some development policies for this category.
For her part, Dr. Sherifa Sherif, Executive Director of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), pointed out the importance of the role played by the Institute in training, qualifying, and raising the knowledge and skills of Egyptian state cadres in all fields to achieve sustainable development following Egypt's Vision 2030.

 She explained that the training program "Disability Awareness" aims to address the model of understanding disability, international coordination of disability and health, types and characteristics of disabilities, barriers to participation, and etiquette for dealing with persons with disabilities.

 She indicated the participation of a group of trainees in the first batch of the program from seven agencies, namely, the Ministries of Education, Agriculture, Health, Civil Aviation, Military Production, Supply, and NIGSD.

She added that the second batch was attended by trainees from six agencies, namely the ministries of culture, environment, higher education, the Consumer Protection Agency, and the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMS).

The training program dealt with a review of several topics represented in the model of understanding disability and the international classification of the job, disability, and health ICF, what is a disability and how we look at it, census of disability in Egypt, in addition to a case study on the definition of disability and discussion about it, explanation of the medical and social model of disability, different types of disabilities and their characteristics Definition and characteristics of various disabilities (motor - visual-auditory - communication), disability in daily life, the etiquette of dealing with people with disabilities. The training program also included meetings with people with disabilities.