Farag Nassar, 23, has been hunting hard for a job since graduating from a polytechnic school in Cairo four years ago, but alas to no avail. "My only ‘crime' is that I'm physically handicapped and employers are disinclined to employ disabled people under the false impression that they are less productive than others," says Nassar. "Employers are also afraid that, if they hire disabled workers, they will incur higher costs for their healthcare." Nassar is one of around 7 million disabled people in this country who complain about negligence from governmental and non-governmental institutions alike. For more than a month now, scores of them have been protesting outside the Egyptian Parliament in central Cairo at a shortage of jobs and housing. "Though the law stipulates that 5 per cent of jobs in governmental and private institutions should be allocated for the disabled, it's merely ink on paper," Nassar says. "The Government itself does not respect this law, so why should private enterprises?" Moustafa Sherdi, an MP for the opposition liberal party Al-Wafd, has tabled a proposal for Parliament that any employer who fails to comply with the 5 per cent job quota for the disabled be jailed for a minimum of a month. Under the current law issued in 1982, violators are only fined LE200 (about $35). "The bulk of codes related to the employment of the disabled are not enforced," says Sherdi. "The vast majority of those people can be rehabilitated and employed in jobs suitable for them," he argues. According to Ibrahim el-Azhari, the Secretary-General of the Egyptian Trade Unions' Federation, some employers circumvent the law on hiring the disabled by treating able-bodied employees, who get injured in the workplace, as part of the 5 per cent demanded by the Law for the Handicapped. "This is sheer fraud. Some employers simply pay the fine for not employing the disabled, instead of employing them, as this fine is ridiculously small." El-Azhari denies that his federation has the authority to ensure that companies comply with this stipulation and punish the offenders. "This is the duty of the Government represented in the Ministry of Manpower." Families of physically and mentally disabled children, meanwhile, say that the streets and public facilities in Egypt are not ‘disabled-friendly'. "They find it difficult to get on public buses or use the Underground," says Mahmoud Mahrous, the father of a wheelchair-bound child. "I have to elicit support from passersby whenever we have to board a public bus. I have to get someone to folding his chair and then help me carry my son onto the bus." For children with special needs, it is important to pay attention to their mental and emotional development, say experts. "It is vital to respect their abilities and wishes, without isolating them from mainstream life," stresses Nadia Ahmed, the chairwoman of Anas el-Wogoud Association, a Cairo-based NGO for the welfare of people with special needs. She warns against using harsh methods in dealing with them. "It is important for the family to care for such people and accept them. At the same time, integrating them into society from their early years is crucial for their psychological and physical wellbeing."
