Q: Is the fact of being a girl and with a disability hampers the access to education in the region? Is gender a barrier to education?

A: Primarily, it is important to draw attention to the fact that being a female in the Middle East constitutes a problem insofar as “access to education” is concerned. In some remote rural areas, ensuring education for girls is not a priority as traditional social roles dictate that women are primarily responsible for childbearing and are more likely to fulfill tasks related to home and family than their male counterparts. Moreover, the high cost of education makes parents more reluctant to send their girls to schools as keeping them at home is definitely more cost effective.
Despite the poor being the most marginalized in terms of social services, there are no effective awareness campaigns emphasizing “access to education for all” as the most effective way to fight poverty.

Q:What are the main (public and private) interventions to locate excluded and at-risk girls and to get them into school in the region?

A:Sadly, I have to say that no such interventions exist at the State level while Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Disabled Persons’ Organizations (DPOs) are undertaking initiatives to locate and intervene with girls with intellectual disabilities. But all these efforts combined are not enough unless governments and civil society organizations collaborate and a clear public policy is enacted.
At this point, I would say that the most important action is for the Lebanese government to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). It is important to underscore the fact that the Convention did not
create new rights but simply reinforced universal human rights for persons with disabilities and as such, are not new concessions but existing ones.

Q: What are the actions that have been undertaken to eliminate cultural, social and economic barriers to girls’ education?

A: Addressing the needs of girls with intellectual disabilities is a challenging task as these types of disabilities are hidden in some communities in the sense that she is prohibited from having an ordinary life: schools are ill-equipped, insurance companies do not cover her “condition”, she cannot exercise her right to suffrage, and the like.
The only official documents that legitimize her existence are her birth and death certificates. It is a continuous struggle for persons with intellectual disabilities to finally enjoy their rights as human being and citizens.
Working at the grassroots level in the framework of the UNCRPD will definitely help us in our fight to eliminate barriers to full inclusion, barriers that are often invisible, because they are related to the prejudice and the mindsets of people.