A disability is an umbrella term which covers impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. It may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, sensory, or some combination of these, which affect a person's life activities. A disability may be present from birth or occur during a person's lifetime and sometimes might present recently in his/ her life.
People with disabilities have poorer health outcomes, lower education achievements, less economic participation and higher rates of poverty than other people. They are among the most marginalized groups in the world.
The Gaza Strip has a high proportion of people with disabilities compared to its population rate. In the Gaza Strip, around 128 thousand individuals suffer from at least one disability, which constitutes 6.8% of the population. They are often likely to be among the poorest members of the population.
Education is considered one of the most effective ways to break the cycle of discrimination, so people with disabilities try to join schools and universities to study in order to get good jobs and prove their existence in the society. The big problem which they may face is how to reach their destinations. Most of them don’t continue their study since they face transportations problems. This point is neglected by many associations although of its significance.
Due to the lack of transportations provided to disabled people, the Benevolent Society for Disabled has started Outreach Programme in 2011 to help people with disabilities reach their destinations. The Programme aims at transporting people between two points. It provides transportation for around 122 persons including university students, school kids, employees and workers who could not reach their educational institutions and work places. It provides a vital lifeline for them to access employment, education, healthcare, and community life.
The Programme started with two vehicles then after three stages they became 8 vehicles transporting 122 disabled people classified into; 17 physically disabled people, 13 deaf people, 52 visually impaired individuals, 14 Autism patients and 26 people with Cerebral Palsy. All regions of the Gaza Strip are included in this Programme such as the north of Gaza, Gaza, Deir Al-Balah, Khan Yunis and Rafah Governorates.