Ref: 62/2015

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) organized two lectures to raise awareness on the rights of persons with disabilities. The two lectures were held at the Commodore Hotel in Gaza City. The lectures were attended by 54 members of associations working on the rights of persons with disabilities, and initiators supporting the rights of persons with disabilities in the Gaza Strip.

The first lecture held on Tuesday evening, 18 November 2015, was attended by 27 participants, including 18 females and 9 males. The second lecture was held on Thursday morning, 19 November 2015, where 27 participants, including 20 females and 7 males, attended.

In the two lectures, Mr. Khalil Shaheen, Director of PCHR’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Unit, displayed the new perspective stated in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which moved from the medical and humanitarian level to the human rights level when addressing those rights. Mr. Shaheen also discussed the obligations and the public and private rights stipulated in the Convention and to what extent they can be applied to meet the rights of persons with disabilities in occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

It is worth noting that the two lectures were organized is part of the two-year project funded by the EU and entitled “Promoting Human Rights and Freedom of Access to Information in the Gaza Strip”.