YouSaid · the spoken record

Almasabi

lines on the record
9
first
2020-07-28
most recent
2020-07-28
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

  1. “Ms. Almasabi: I would like to say two things. First of all, I am grateful to the speaker who said the Council could do more and do better. We are waiting for the Council. What is it going to do for us as people with disabilities? Actually, people with disabilities are waiting for me. Hundreds of messages are coming into my WhatsApp asking what is next for us. I am waiting for the Council to tell me what is next. In real life, how can it support, assist and help people with disabilities and present their rights, needs and realities in its work and budget? I would like to answer them. I am waiting for the Council. What is it going to do for us?”

    2020-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8753 (2020) · source

  2. “Persons with disabilities must be a part of every statement the Council issues and every resolution it considers. We must have a seat at the table.”

    2020-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8753 (2020) · source

  3. “It is one year since the Security Council adopted its first resolution on the protection of people with disabilities in wars (resolution 2475 (2019)). This was followed by commitments from the United Nations and Governments to do better in reaching people with disabilities in humanitarian responses. However, such commitments have still not led to any meaningful changes on the ground. Persons with disabilities and their representative organizations are struggling to survive. I call on the Security Council and Member States to allocate resources and targeted funding to support them in Yemen through financial and technical support. I thank the Security Council for making my voice heard today. I leave members with a simple plea — they can do more. They can do better. We are not an afterthought.”

    2020-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8753 (2020) · source

  4. “We need the Security Council — all its member States — to do everything in its power to stop the war. I urge them to stop supporting and arming those fighting this war. People in Yemen, like those in their home countries, need peace and security. Placing the rights and needs of people with disabilities in the minds and the budgets of the United Nations agencies, international non-governmental organizations and members’ Governments is what we need. Any peace negotiations must include the participation of people with disabilities. Currently, there are more than 4 million persons with disabilities in Yemen, but none of us have been engaged in any of those processes. That means that until today, people with disabilities have had no voice at all in addressing the present and the future of Yemen.”

    2020-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8753 (2020) · source

  5. “There are no specific targeted actions to reach them, even though we know that they are at a higher risk if infected with the virus. There is no data on how many people with disabilities in Yemen have been infected with, or have died of, COVID-19. The war has made us poorer. I myself have not had an income because I have now not received a salary for four years. Many people with disabilities struggle to find any source of income, while the price of everything has increased. Even more children with disabilities are now out of school as a result of the war. As a fighter for our rights in Yemen, I need the following from the Security Council. The longer the war persists, the situation will continue to get worse for all civilians, including us, people with disabilities.”

    2020-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8753 (2020) · source

  6. “We saw that with families escaping fighting in Al-Hudaydah, Taiz, Sa’ada and many other places. Life in displacement camps has been particularly difficult for people with disabilities. Most of the camps in Yemen were not designed for us. Basic rights, such as access to health, water and sanitation facilities for people with disabilities, are often ignored. Many people with disabilities face barriers to accessing health care. Some people need to travel up to between six and eight hours to reach emergency medical centres along destroyed roads with few financial resources. With the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) now causing a catastrophic health crisis across Yemen, people with disabilities are once again being left behind.”

    2020-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8753 (2020) · source

  7. “Many people who had disabilities before the war have also acquired new, secondary conditions as a result of attacks and displacement. For example, before the war I had one disability, but because of the war I now have two: a physical disability and a hearing disability. When the fighting breaks out, many people with disabilities find it difficult to flee the violence. Imagine having to run for your life without a wheelchair, crutches or an assistive device that you need to be able to move. Imagine having to completely depend on your loved ones, or whoever is willing, to help you move. Some people with disabilities end up being left behind by their families. Others choose not to flee so that they do not put their families at a higher risk by slowing them down.”

    2020-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8753 (2020) · source

  8. “This war has had an excessive impact on us persons with disabilities. Before the war started in 2015, there were 2 million people with disabilities in Yemen. Today, that number is estimated to be between 3.5 to 4.5 million. There is no reliable data on people with disabilities in Yemen and, given the ongoing conflict, the actual number is certainly higher than that. The majority of people who have acquired a disability during the war did so as a result of injuries sustained from air strikes, landmines or other explosive remnants of war. But, in addition, the denial of humanitarian access has also created such chronic health conditions as malnutrition, especially among children. This is one of the primary reasons why many children in Yemen have acquired a disability.”

    2020-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8753 (2020) · source

  9. “Ms. Almasabi: First of all, I thank the German presidency for its invitation to participate in today’s meeting and for this opportunity to address the Security Council on how the war in my country, Yemen, has affected people with disabilities. My name is Raja Abdullah Ahmed Almasabi, and I am the Chairwoman of the Arab Human Rights Foundation, the only local organization in Yemen that advocates for the rights of people with disabilities. As a woman with a disability myself, I speak from experience. I fight for our rights. For years, the Security Council has been briefed on the suffering Yemenis have experienced from the ongoing war. The situation has been described by the United Nations as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Even now, bombs are falling and people are fleeing in the midst of the pandemic.”

    2020-07-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8753 (2020) · source