AAMAL – Syrian Organisation for the Disabled

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AAMAL – Syrian Organisation for the Disabled

A New Day … A New Hope

Damascus, 16 July 2006

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Contents

A. Disabilities are a serious problem in Syria

B. Our vision, approach and activities

C. Our plans for the near future

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A. Disabilities are a serious problem in Syria

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Disabilities concern us all!

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111,420

17,793,000

In Syria, the reported number of disabled persons is ominously small with 0.6% of the overall population

Registered disabled individuals in Syria

per 5’000 registered disabled individuals (Source: Central Bureau of Statistics)or

Registered disabled individuals

Total Syrian population

0.64%Official share of disabled Syrian population

=

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In contrast, the World Health Organization estimates that approximately 9% of the world’s population is disabled

91%

9%

Not disabled

Disabled

Share of disabled population worldwide Distribution of disability degree

90%

10%

Mild-moderate

Severe

Disability worldwide

Source: World Health Organization

• Syria is home to many more disa-bled individuals than registered

• Significant improvements can be achieved with relatively little effort for 90% of disabled individuals

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WHO disability definition

Disability is any restriction

or lack of ability to perform

an activity in the manner or

within the range

considered normal for a

human being.

It is the outcome or result

of a complex relationship

between:

Individual's health condition

External factors that represent the circumstances in which the individual lives

Personal factors

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A disability is the result of individual and external factors – dealing with it requires a comprehensive approach

Source: World Health Organization

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Syria has started to address the needs of the disabled – but the remaining challenges are innumerous

Actions taken in Syria

• National law 34/2004 to protect the rights of persons with disabilities issued

• Higher Council for the Disabled1) was established to– Support policy making– Formulate a national plan of action– Make recommendations to the President

of the Higher Council, His Excellency, the Prime Minister

– Implement law 34/2004

• Increasing numbers of NGOs in Syria to address disabilities

Remaining challenges

• Insufficient scientific data and statistics on prevalence and nature of disabilities in Syria

• Insufficient facilities to attend to disabled individuals, in quantity and quality

• Insufficient professional skills and expertise in the field of disabilities

• Insufficient representation of disabled individuals’ interests

• Insufficient knowledge and awareness within the Syrian population regarding needs and rights of disabled individuals

• Insufficient Syrian legislation for disabled persons

1) Members include representatives from the Ministries of Health, Higher Education, Education, Social Affairs and Labor; and from NGOs working in the field of disabilities

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B. Our vision, approach and activities

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Our vision is to improve the life of individuals with disabilities in Syria

Empoweredindividuals with

disabilities living life in full

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Our mission builds on several core elements

We strive to make a difference to the lives of

individuals with disabilities

by building knowledge and awareness,

securing treatment and rehabilitation,

and advocating social inclusion.

In doing so,

• we act as a catalyst for change

• we pursue an integrated approach

• we partner with others to achieve

the broadest impact

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COOPERATION and NETWORKING

To implement our vision, we pursue five activity pillars – thereby, cooperation is a core principle

Governmental advocacy

Clinical research and statistics

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Social awareness and knowledge

Current main activity fields of AAMAL

Postgraduate education and training

Treatment and rehabilitation facilities

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AAMALSYRIAN ORGANISATION FOR THE DISABLED

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To date, we have created a new Masters program and trained approx. 40 therapists that currently treat 140 patients

Postgraduate training and education

• 19 speech language pathologists graduated, currently attending clinical training year

• 20 specialists for special education in blindness, autism and teaching of the deaf will graduate in 2007

• Additionally, we have conducted numerous postgraduate training courses for autism supporting team, and various seminars and workshops to ensure continuous professional development

• Creation of a state-of-the-art treatment and rehabilitation center for speech and hearing

• Our clients so far– 142 in treatment– 97 successfully treated– Long waiting list

• Establishment of a center for autism – currently in the soft opening phase

Treatment and rehabilitation facilities

1 2 POSTGRADUATE TRAINING AND TREATMENT FACILITIES

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The creation of our center was a major step for us – we started with bricks, mortar and a lot of enthusiasm …

Installingour name

Our Center for

Speech and Hearing

1 2

Constructingthe gatehouse

POSTGRADUATE TRAINING AND TREATMENT FACILITIES

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… and the conviction that the center must provide the best equipment and environment for successful treatment and rehabilitation

Treatment rooms to international ASHA standards

State-of-the-art technology

Resource center

1 2 POSTGRADUATE TRAINING AND TREATMENT FACILITIES

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At the same time, we have been active in research, building social awareness and governmental advocacy

• We have developed the facilities and professional skills to conduct research

• We provided statistics on hearing loss in intellectually impaired individuals in co-operation with Malmö University

• We organized the national conference on intellectual disability together with International Special Olympics

• We sponsored the Healthy Athletes training and screening for the Special Olympics in 2006

Governmental advocacy

Social awareness and knowledge

Clinical research and statistics

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• We cooperate with the Ministries of Health and Higher Education in the area of postgraduate education and training

• We represent NGOs in the National Higher Council for the Disabled

• We advocate the Syrian legislation for disabled

RESEARCH, AWARENESS, AND ADVOCACY

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C. Our plans for the near future

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By 2010, we aim to have a significant operation in place

Our focus for treatment and rehabilitation

Our way forward

Speech and Hearing

Blindness

International top quality standards and accreditation

Comprehen-sive treatment approach

Growth to approx. 200 specialists and trainers

Regional di-versification – duplication of Damascus Center

Autism

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Effective social awareness builder

State-of-the-art treatment and rehabilitation process and facilities

Network of recognized and committed partner

Certified training courses

Established govern-mental advocacy

activities

Acknowledged research hub

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We strive to become a center of excellence in our sector

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1 POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION AND TRAINING

We will do more training programs; established and new ones

Specialization &Certification

• In 2007, we start two new master programs in speech-language pathology and in audiology

• We will conduct fellowship training years; for current graduates it will take place in 2006-2007

• Thereby, we cooperate with Damascus University and Brigham Young University

• We will take up additional master programs in the near future for new specializations

• Our students will be accredited by internationally recognized certification (ASHA) starting in 2007

Refreshers &Seminars

Basic training

Capacitybuildingin Syria

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We want to improve and widen our treatment and rehabilitation activities

2 TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION FACILITIES

Improving our center New center activities

We want to institute the ability to

• fit and intervene with high-end hearing aid technology

In addition to our centers for speech and hearing, autism, and blindness, we want to

• take up the treatment and rehabilitation of deaf palate and deaf-blind

• program cochlear implants at AAMAL center

• spread regionally by repli-cation of our Damascus operation

More treatment and rehabilitation facilities in Syria

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We plan to conduct research to increase the Syrian knowledge in disabilities

RESEARCH AND STATISTICS3 CLINICAL RESEARCH AND STATISTICS

National and internationalcooperation

International partners• Universities in the US, Europe

and the Far East• NGOs

Regional Middle East partners• Universities in Jordan, Egypt and the • Gulf Region,

NGOs

Syrian partners• Ministries• Universities• NGOs

• We want to become a key organisation for gathering and disseminating information and statistics about disabilities in Syria

• We will conduct clinical research and design intervention strategies for individuals with disabilities. We will start with– Plato meter research– Newborn screening tests in hospitals

• We will organize, participate in and sponsor professional conferences about disabilities

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4 SOCIAL AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE

We aim to increase social awareness and knowledge regarding disabilities in Syria through various channels

Support of parentaland communityaction groups

of events

symposiums

Professional

Organizationof academic

Promotion

programs

of media

Fostering

relationship

Information campaigns

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We want to join our efforts with the Syrian authorities

Know-how contribution

OperationsService provider

AAMAL

A

BC

We will contribute our know-how to governmental bodies to further develop the Syrian legislation and activities for disabled individuals

A

We will cooperate with government and Syrian authorities in the fields of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation

B

We will offer services to the Syrian government and authorities, such as training, advice, audit, and management skills

C

Potential formats of governmental support

Fields where we can contribute

GOVERNMENTAL COOPERATION5 GOVERNMENTAL ADVOCAY

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6 COOPERATION AND NETWORKING

Cooperation in first master in speech and hearing pathology and special education (autism, blind-ness, teach the deaf)

Future cooperation in master programs for special education

Further cooperation in master program for audiology, and speech and hearing, and research

A wide network of cooperation partners is key in fulfilling our vision and plans for the future

Joint research for 2005-2007 launched

Support in quality control, training, and fellowship year

Damascus UniversityMalmö University, Sweden

Brigham Young University, USA Jordan University

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To realize our goals for the future, we are constantly on the lookout for people and funds – any help is welcome

• General and project specific donations

• Cash and dedicated in-kind contributions

• Ambassadors for AAMAL, who promote our activities

• Partners, who want to work with us cooperatively

• Skilled professionals, who realize our daily achievements

• Volunteers, who support our mission

Funds

People

Needs

Needs

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AAMAL – Syrian Organisation for the Disabled

If you have any questions or would like to support AAMAL, we are happy to be in contact with you – enjoy your evening at AAMAL!

Contact?

• Suzanne Zahredin, Executive Director• Beitara Square, Airport Highway

Damascus, Syria• Tel: +963 11 543 3619• E-mail: [email protected]• Website: www.aamalsyria.org

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