Moussa Charafeddine

My first contact with Inclusion International formerly known as ILSMH began in UAE when Victor Walstrome was seeking representative of parents from Arab Region- in that time- to join the International Family Task Force for the International Year of the Family. In 1993 Peter Mittler conducted a series of meetings for that task force from around the World to promote the life quality of families of persons with intellectual disability. We were able to move our agenda to the UN during the International Year of the family. The series of meeting with active parents representing the World wide holding their worries as well as their successful achievements. That marvelous even paved the way for me to join the International League of Societies for Mentally Handicapped. It was a historic moment in my life when I had the opportunity to be among the World Wide Community of determined and energetic people who devoted their lives to promote life with dignity to people with intellectual disability. During my membership I was able to participate in almost all the Inclusion International meetings in Poland, Chile, Netherlands, Ferne Voltaire, Cork, Costa Rica, London, Melbourne, Mexico, and Canada. That meeting gave me a lot of knowledge and skills and opened for me a new horizon.
During my membership I was able to gain marvelous experience in handling the disability issues. Disability movement and Inclusion International performed dramatic changes and mainly in terms of shifting from charity and special education, to an advocacy and human rights approach. That dramatic movement followed by increasing the role of selfadvocates. Selfadvocates were able to start an international organization within Inclusion International, where representatives from World Regions are represented in the Inclusion International Council.
During my membership I was able to be elected as Vice President, that gave me an influential role to formulate Inclusion International Middle East and North African Region which is now officially licensed and it based in Lebanon and 15 MENA countries are represented.
In December 2005 Inclusion International Mena Region held a Regional Conference in Tunis where the Regional Report on Poverty and Disability was launched. That was a part of Inclusion International World Report on Poverty and Disability.
Panama Without Barriers was the project in which I participated in its negotiations and it was signed and executed.
MENA Region along with Inclusion International participated actively in the UN sessions for CRPD. We are now very active to promote the ratification of CRPD in MENA Region.
We hosted in the first week of March a Regional Pilot Project Workshop on Living in the Community where around 60 parents and 35 selfadvocates participated.. That was the first of kind event which will have an outstanding impact on disability issues in our region.