With Turkey's support, Somali first lady launches drive to help people with disabilities

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – With the help of Turkey's state-run aid agency, Somalia's first lady Sunday launched an aid campaign to support people with disabilities in the capital Mogadishu.

Addressing the launch ceremony, First Lady Saynab Moallim said: "I met with the head of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in Turkey and requested to help us in this project and I am very grateful for their help."

​​​​​​​She donated mobility aids such as wheelchairs.

Attending the ceremony were Turkish Ambassador to Somalia Mehmet Yilmaz and TIKA coordinator for Somalia Ilhami Turus.

"We were created for the test that just as being disabled is not a reason for superiority in this world, being disabled is not a deficiency or flaw. The important thing is that our souls and hearts are not handicapped," Turus said.

He added that it is their duty to ensure the visibility of the disabled in political, economic, social, and cultural life, to produce solutions for them to lead a more comfortable life, to increase social awareness of their rights, and to put an end to the difficulties they experience.

TIKA officials who spoke to Anadolu Agency after the ceremony said that they are planning to provide aid and over 100 wheelchairs to people with disabilities in the South West, Hirshabelle, Puntland, and Galmudug states.