The Lebanese Union for Persons with Motor Disabilities participated in the forum held at the Ministry of Interior entitled “Elections Forum” on February 15, 2022, which was organized in cooperation between the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities and the United Nations Office in Lebanon, to focus on preparations for the parliamentary elections. The forum was attended by ambassadors from the Vatican, Arab League, Morocco, Denmark, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Egypt, USA, , Germany, Tunisia, Korea, Czech Republic, Romania, Spain, Argentina, Finland, Armenia, Jordan, Italy, Canada, France, Brazil, Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, Britain, diplomats from Australia, Sweden, Iran, Russia, Hungary, Slovakia, representatives of civil society and associations.

At the forum, after official speeches by the Minister of Interior and Municipalities Judge Bassam Mawlawi and the Special Coordinator of the United Nations Secretary-General in Lebanon Ioanna Fronczka, and the opening of the floor for interventions, the President of the Federation, Silvana Al-Lakkis, asked the extent to which the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities is following up on the plan to ensure the ease of voting for disabled voters, recalling that the Federation had submitted three proposals aimed at exercising the right to vote with independence and dignity, starting with the megacenter. The Federation had submitted three proposals aimed at ensuring that persons with disabilities exercise their electoral rights independently and with dignity, starting with the megacenter, through the exceptional registration of disabled voters in equipped centers within their electoral districts, to the last proposal related to the use of ground floors in polling stations, the use of stadiums, and the operation of elevators where they exist. Al-Lakkis also recalled that the union provided the ministry with the necessary information and the results of a study prepared by the union’s engineering unit, which identified polling centers after selecting them from a comprehensive survey conducted by the union in 2009. Al-Lakkis reiterated that the union is ready to coordinate and provide the necessary technical support to the ministry in this regard. Al-Lakkis warned that time is running out, and that it will not be acceptable for people with disabilities to be treated as in the past, with isolation, discrimination and neglect of their demands under the pretext of lack of time, and that the proposal can be implemented in the period between us and the polling day, and it should be serious to respect the dignity of voters with disabilities on the polling day.

Minister Mawlawi thanked the Federation for providing him with the study that identified polling stations that include ground floors that can be used as polling stations, and those that are equipped with elevators. He expressed positivity in communicating and dealing with the proposal, reassuring people with disabilities “not to worry, the ministry is following up on the issue.”