“Differently-Abled” Celebration

On the 28th of December, 2022, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi attended the “Differently-Abled” celebration at Al-Manara International Conference Center in New Cairo. His Excellency also inspected the exhibition of those with special abilities.

President El-Sisi’s Speech at the “Differently-Abled” Celebration for People of Determination

“In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

My sons and daughters of determination and their honorable families,

Honorable attendees,

May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon you
 

It gives me pleasure, as we are approaching a new year, to extend my new year greetings to the great people of Egypt and to my young sons and daughters, particularly those with special abilities and of determination. I ask Allah Almighty to bestow his permanent prosperity and progress upon Egypt and its people.

I would like to tell you honestly, that I look forward to this occasion, year after year, to join you in this annual tradition, where we draw inspiration from you for energy and positivity, the willpower, the challenging spirit, and feelings of pride of this homeland, which is now keen on honoring its sons of determination and sees in them the good plant that we cultivate to reap all good for all of us and for the coming generations, God willing. We hold you close within our hearts, sons and daughters of determination, as you represent one of the main pillars for building this homeland. We appreciate your efforts and achievements, and we see generosity in your contributions in the various fields, the impact of which increases day after day, in our efforts toward building a modern state and preserving our authentic national Egyptian identity.

Brothers and sisters,

The acute circumstances the world has been passing through over the past period have created successive economic crises and imposed formidable challenges that made us realize for sure that rallying around the homeland and gaining strengthen from its historical gains and divine capabilities is the only way, not only to surmount these crises and counter the challenges, but also to realize the dream of building the State of Egypt, according to what we aspire to and dream of.

Sons and daughters,

We realized from the very first moment, and throughout our endeavors on this path, that the amount of success and accomplishment rates are dependent, primarily, on what we can offer to our sons and daughters of determination. This made us keen on directing all relevant state institutions to work on providing all help and assistance to counter your challenges, to provide a conducive environment to enable you to participate effectively and increase your contributions, and to benefit from your capabilities in the various trajectories of national action.

I would like to seize this opportunity to direct all relevant state authorities to work on completing what we have started together by enhancing programs and plans and by taking the necessary executive measures that aim to empower people of determination and to integrate them into all national projects and initiatives implemented by the state. These measures shall also aim at making efforts toward empowering our sons and daughters of determination an integral part of the priorities that aim to improve the citizens’ lives.

Within this framework, allow me to declare the executive measures I directed the various state authorities to adopt during the coming period:

First:

Assigning the Ministry of Social Solidarity to facilitate the issuance of integrated service cards for people of determination to ensure their access to all rights and services. I also directed them to study making the payment of the father’s pension to the married woman of determination to be similar to other people of determination.

Second:

Assigning the Ministry of Youth and Sports to offer memberships and make it possible for our sons and daughters of determination to use all youth, innovation and learning centers and cities, and to coordinate with sports clubs to ensure that they can practice sports in the best ways offered by the facilities. This is, in addition to expanding the fields of training and rehabilitation for people of determination to include various life, artistic, cultural and sports skills, and actively participating in scouts.

Third:

Assigning the Ministry of Youth and Sports to increase support for the sports championship sector as well as activities and projects to discover talented and creative people of determination in various fields and to offer them programs and activities with the aim of raising their physical fitness, refining their sports skills and forming sports teams.

Fourth:

Assigning the Ministry of Housing to consider the special needs of people of determination with regard to housing projects and determining a percentage for them, within the priorities that are allocated and in accordance with the regulations for the projects currently offered in the various new cities, with the provision of an availability code in public and residential facilities.

Fifth:

Assigning the Ministry of Health to provide various integrated healthcare services for people of determination in all facilities in the various governorates and to provide additional accompanying services for patients of determination in central care, in case it is not possible to communicate with the patient.

Sixth:

Assigning the Ministry of Transport to ensure that the national projects, currently underway, such as roads, bridges, tunnels, metro stations, monorails, and others, include availability codes and consider the needs of people of determination.

Seventh:

Assigning the Ministries of Education, Higher Education, Youth and Sports and Social Solidarity to coordinate efforts to launch the "Companions of the Differently-Abled" initiative in schools, universities, youth centers, clubs, care homes and various bodies. The Council of Ministers is to develop an organizational mechanism to motivate citizens to participate in this initiative.

Eighth:

Assigning the Ministry of Manpower to coordinate with the relevant state agencies, to develop programs aimed at training and employing young people of determination to equip them with the job market skills, in various employment sectors, opening future prospects for them.

Dear brothers and sisters,

the families of people of determination…

Words do not suffice to express my gratitude and appreciation for what you have offered to your children of determination. We highly appreciate your efforts to care for them to contribute to the advancement of this nation. I promise you to keep exerting efforts to achieve the empowerment that befits you.

I wish you all the best,

Peace be upon you"