As the economic crisis in Lebanon worsens, dozens of associations that support one of the most vulnerable groups in society are threatened with closure.
Lebanese Banks are withholding the associations’ own funds and preventing them from withdrawing more than 8,000,000 LL per month from the Ministry of Finance’s transfers.
The decline of associations began to appear by reducing the electricity consumption in academic rooms, the number of employees by 18%, and the quality of provided food.
President of the Lebanese Autistic Society, Arwa Halawi, talks about a huge deficit in the next year’s draft budget that they cannot pay, as only 40% of their children pay the fees, while 60% of them are at the expense of the ministry, which gives them bits.
This is what threatens the association with closure, and threatens children with autism to be cut off from their program, which leads to a decline in their abilities and loss of acquired skills.
President of the “Father Roberts Foundation for Deaf & Mute”, Patrice Muslim, said that, in consequence, the foundation is providing incomplete services, including limiting education to only three days and giving up a lot of activities.
That’s in addition to the high cost of repairing any small part of the deaf hearing headset. For instance, the cost of changing the straps can reach $2,000, and the batteries, which cost $6, need changing every 2 days.
Therefore, some have given up the headset for days until they secure the cost of repairing it and changing the batteries.
“There are those who begged me to repair their headset so that they can participate in the official exams,” said Patrice.
The Director-General of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Abdullah Ahmed, asserts that no one concerned intends to help the disabled. This is demonstrated by the lack of seriousness in the discussion and reactions that do not rise to the level of the crisis.
