Launch & Walk: Building Forward an Inclusive and Accessible Lebanon

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) are jointly launching a new initiative to support persons with disabilities and reduce their exposure to increasing vulnerabilities due to Lebanon’s manifold crises – the dwindling economy, the COVID 19 pandemic and most recently the Beirut Port explosion.

The initiative will cater for the immediate needs required to maintain the health and wellbeing of persons with disabilities, who have been among the hardest hit by Lebanon’s crises. It will mobilize a wide partnership to ensure that areas affected by the Port explosion are reconstructed in a manner that improves physical accessibility for persons with disabilities to public institution, streets and private facilities. On the longer term, it will advocate for policies and measures to guarantee persons with disabilities access to quality care facilities and the most essential assistive devices, and their inclusion in social and economic activity without barriers.

Launch

The brief launch event will feature the signing of Beirut Call for Action to Support Persons with Disabilities by involved partners, including diplomatic missions to Lebanon, UN agencies, the Lebanese Federation of Engineers and Architects, and concerned civil society organizations.

Beirut Walk for Inclusion

To raise awareness of the initiative and kick-off an effort to mobilize resources for it, UNDP Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Climate Action Michael Haddad will embark on a 4 Kilometres walk from the UN House in Beirut (ESCWA headquarters) to the Karantina Public Hospital.

An endurance athlete who is paralyzed from the chest down, Haddad has devised his own unique “step-to-gait” method of movement, using a high-tech exoskeleton to stabilize his chest and legs. The Beirut walk is the first in a series of walks that he is planning in several countries under his “Stepping Ahead of COVID” initiative, which aims to raise awareness and mobilize resources to help mitigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic on the most vulnerable and advocate for inclusive and green post-pandemic recovery.