Rabat — Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and Family, Aouatif Hayar, participated in the 15th Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, held from June 13 to 16 in New York. Hayar, who represents Morocco at this session organized under the theme "Building disability-inclusive societies in the COVID context and beyond", emphasized the special attention given by the Kingdom, under the leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, to the promotion of the situation of this social category.
Morocco ratified on April 8, 2009 the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, as well as adopted in 2011 a Constitution enshrining the rights of these people and enacted the framework law 97.13 to protect and promote their rights, recalled the minister in a speech broadcast Tuesday evening before the conference.
Quoted in a statement of her department, Hayar also recalled the establishment of the ministerial committee responsible for monitoring the implementation of strategies and programs related to the promotion of the rights of people with disabilities, pursuant to Article 33 of the Convention.
She also reviewed the many achievements for the benefit of this social group, including the establishment of the National Mechanism for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), the establishment in 2022 of the first system of assessment of disability based on the definition of disability according to the Convention.
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Similarly, the minister emphasized the mobilization of an amount of 500 million dirhams annually, in accordance with the government program, in favor of associations working in the field of protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, as part of the Support Fund for Social Cohesion for the benefit of people with disabilities, added the statement.
The strategy "Jisr" launched by the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Integration and Family and based on inclusive development, sustainability, the green approach, digitization and participatory approach, is a concrete response to ensure the rights and dignity of people with disabilities, she added.
In the same vein, she mentioned the projects initiated in this same perspective to promote the generalization and monitoring of schooling for children with disabilities, the launch of the platform "Rafik" for the training of 18,000 families in support of autistic children, and the adoption of a unified competition for people with disabilities.
In addition, the completion of the legal framework governing the accessibility of people with disabilities and the implementation of the program Accessible Cities, in partnership with local authorities.
The minister also stressed that the various initiatives are now framed by the New Development Model, in that it encourages the various actors to commit to inclusive and sustainable development for all. In this regard, the Kingdom continues, as part of the government program 2021-2026, its efforts to implement the large-scale project of social protection, launched by the Sovereign in order to generalize social coverage for the benefit of all Moroccans, concluded the statement.
