The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization -ALECSO- celebrates the Arab Day for Persons with Special Needs, which falls on 4 January of every year. This year, ALECSO has chosen the slogan " Toward an inclusive Arab nation that empowers persons with disabilities", an occasion that values the will that overcomes challenges, and the capabilities that make a difference in our Arab societies. This day is not merely a passing occasion, but rather a pause to renew the pledge through full commitment to supporting the rights of persons with special needs, and ensuring their full and effective inclusion in all paths of sustainable development.

Commemorating the Arab Day for Persons with Special Needs represents a renewed station to continue strengthening the Arab efforts aimed at including this group within their societies and at enabling them to make a qualitative contribution to the paths of sustainable development.

On this occasion, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization affirms the necessity of strengthening shared convictions and the importance of practical measures that activate the choices of governmental institutions and the efforts of civil / community society institutions.

In this framework, ALECSO recalls that the conscious and responsible handling of inclusion necessarily passes through educational justice based essentially on fair and inclusive approaches, in view of the essential role of education in achieving the goals of sustainable development.

Based on ALECSO's action plan, 2023/2028, which affirms guaranteeing the rights of persons with disabilities to good, fair and inclusive education opportunities, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization has, since 2023, included an educational programme to promote inclusive education that aimed at setting educational plans and issuing guidance documents in the areas of promoting educational inclusion of persons with disabilities of their various types (learning difficulties, those with autism spectrum disorder, the visually impaired / blind...)

ALECSO's initiative through the Second Arab Decade for Persons with Disabilities (2023-2032) aims to promote the rights of persons with disabilities and include them in Arab societies through 17 main axes covering legislation, social and health services, education, vocational training, economic empowerment, and civil and cultural participation, and it focuses on achieving independence and a dignified life for this group, in harmony with international conventions and charters. In this context, ALECSO calls for:

• Intensifying efforts to implement the provisions of the "Second Arab Decade for Persons with Disabilities", and ensuring the transformation of policies and choices into a tangible reality that improves the quality of life of the Arab citizen, especially in the fields of health, education, and work.
• Investing in accessibility and digital transformation and generalizing the "universal access" standards, so that our cities, facilities and digital infrastructures become prepared to receive everyone, with a focus on harnessing artificial intelligence to serve persons with special needs and facilitate their independence.
• Economic and social empowerment through integrating persons with disabilities into the Arab labour market and considering it a moral duty and an economic necessity. ​
• Protecting the rights of the most vulnerable groups, and paying special attention to persons with disabilities in areas of conflict and asylum within our Arab homeland, and ensuring the arrival of relief and rehabilitation services to them in an urgent and sustainable manner.

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