On Monday, February 22, 2021, CGDS Deputy Director Dr. Lynn Rose and MENA Coordinator Ms. Tara Burhan were hosted by the Halabja Disabled Organization. Mr. Mariwan Wahbi, the organization’s director, gave us an overview of HDO’s history and objectives. An organization that serves people with every kind of disability, one of its main aims is to promote education for people with disabilities at all levels, from primary school through university. Funded by the Finnish NGO Fida, among others, HDO is now in its third year of an extensive project serving disabled students, and has begun to extend its reach beyond Halabja, helping over 500 students in 140 schools. Ms. Nian Azeez, a social worker; Mr. Bahajat Rahman, a special education instructor; and Mr. Rastgo Adil Saeed, project coordinator, also summarized some of HDO’s many projects and publications. Ms. Rangen Majed, Mr Namiq Hama Law, Mr. Nadim Mohammed, Mr. Razaw Noori, and Mr. Hidayat Khwa Karam were also present. CGDS hopes to collaborate with HDO in order to build a better society for everyone.
Photo description: Nine people are in a row at the top of a railed ramp outside a building with many small windows. Of the four women, two wear hijab; of the five men, one sits in a blue-framed wheelchair. Everyone wears coats, jackets, or cardigans. At the bottom center of the photo is a circular logo with the black outline of a person sitting in a wheelchair against a blue background; the script in the logo is too small to make out.