“Now I believe that there is nothing impossible; disability will not stop me from going ahead in my life ", Ahmed started telling us his story.
Ahmed lived in Mosul with his family when the war with ISIS started. He was 15 years old when ISIS destroyed a neighbour's house. Living through this nightmare, Ahmed developed a psychological trauma. Later it developed into Wilson's neurological disease that caused loss of movement and speaking.
His sudden loss of speech and movement caused him much suffering. "I felt marginalised by society because of my disability, and they treated me as if I could not do anything. I left school, my life changed, and my dreams were ruined." - he said.
Ahmed struggled a lot trying to live as he used to before. However, his inability to take care of himself, discrimination, and stigma from the community affected his mental health. He fell into depression.
Ahmed is one out of 4,800 youths with disability of 22,995 registered people with disabilities who live in Ninewa Governorate. His story is not unique; many other adolescents and youth with disabilities go through the same experience and lose hope for the future.
Luckily for Ahmed, he found a new path toward a better life when he saw a post on Facebook about disability-friendly youth centres in Mosul. The services provided by these centres were interesting to Ahmed and, most importantly, accessible to young people like him. He immediately joined one of the youth centres, and his new life started.
Ahmed participated in various courses in the youth centre, such as life-skills learning and sports activities. He also got access to physical therapy. Engaging with peers, learning new skills, and receiving physical therapy helped Ahmed build his confidence and strength to move and become more positive about his life. "I was encouraged to get out of the house and engage in learning and voluntary work. My health, psychological and physical conditions tremendously improved. My body responded better by moving my fingers and walking around. I got to know wonderful people who became like my family,” said Ahmed enthusiastically.
Today, Ahmed is a more powerful and self-confident young man. He communicates with people through writing. “I study and continue learning new skills. I dream that one day I will get a good job, become independent and help my family”, concluded Ahmad with a happy smile.
These positive changes in Ahmed’s life became possible thanks to a special initiative for adolescents and youth with disability launched by UNFPA with support from Finland and in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, and the governor of Ninevah. The project covers three youth centres in Mosul and helps young people with disabilities to study, receive the necessary support and become engaged with peers in a friendly environment. In eleven months, about 450 young people have benefited from the disability-friendly classes and services, and about a thousand adolescents with disabilities have received mental and psychosocial support.
UNFPA in Iraq works to promote the human rights of women and young persons with disabilities and places access to sexual and reproductive health services, information and education for persons with disabilities at the core of the programme.
