Palestine Monetary Authority Workshop on “Making Banking Services Accessible to the Physically Handicapped”

January 29, 2017

Ramallah – Palestine Monetary Authority organized workshop on “Making Banking Services Accessible to the Physically Handicapped” under the auspices of its Governor His Excellency Mr. Azzam Shawwa. Legal advisors of banks and the Association of Banks in Palestine and representatives of unions and societies that worked with handicapped people attended the workshop.

The purpose of the workshop is to coordinate efforts to make banking services accessible to handicapped people. His Excellency Mr. Azzam Shawwa said in the opening remarks that PMA focused on ensuring ways of facilitating delivery of banking services to people with physical disability by directing relevant departments at banking institutions to overcome legal obstacles and challenges that prevent people with handicap from accessing banking services and make banks ready to deliver smooth services to them by having special counter for people with disability, ensure availability of special ATMs that meet the needs of the physically disabled, appoint qualified staff to deal with them, print bank account application using Braille, provide car park and other facilities, as well as prepare special lexicon for the deaf.

Mr. Shawwa said it was necessary that organizations in the society worked together to integrate people with disability into the society, ensure their rights, and allow them to be productive. This is in line with the Rights of the Handicapped Law, which stipulates that “Handicapped people have the right to enjoy free and decent life and to receive services like other citizens who enjoy similar rights and have similar obligations as much as their capacities allow. Disability must not be a cause for preventing the handicapped from obtaining such rights.” Mr. Shawwa expressed pride in disabled people and their role in the society.   

Mr. Ameen Enabi, the Director General of Disability Department at the Ministry of Social Development, said it was necessary to institutionalize services delivered to people with disability through integrating the roles of the institutions and drafting laws that ensure that disabled people obtained all their rights in order to prevent any institutional obstacles that prevent access of disabled people to services and ensure that they enjoy banking, social, educational, and health rights. 

Mr. Mohammad Al Barghouti, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Banks in Palestine, said the Palestinian banking system would do its best to ensure access of handicapped people to banking services and to ensure the infrastructure and legal requirement to enable them to access banking services despite the risks that might be ensued with the services. 

Mr. Rafeeq Abu Sifin, the Head of the Palestinian General Union of People with Disability, called on His Excellency Mr. Azzam Shawwa, the Governor of Palestine Monetary Authority, to urge the Palestinian banking system to facilitate delivery of banking services to people with disability by ensuring proper infrastructure and laws that guarantee access of disabled people to the banking services that they are deprived of.

The Director of Market Conduct Department at Palestine Monetary Authority Mr. Ali Far’oun addressed in his speech the obstacles and challenges that faced delivery of banking services to the physically handicapped, which must be quickly overcome to enable disabled people to access banking services.

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