As part of its Platinum Sponsorship of “Accessibility Matters” Campaign
Attijariwafa bank Egypt partakes in the Ratification of a Cooperation Protocol between the National Authority for Tunnels and Helm Foundation
Attijariwafa bank Egypt will participate next week, 30th of September 2018 in a ceremony, to witness the signing of a cooperation protocol between the National Authority for Tunnels represented by the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Helm Foundation for the support and integration of persons with disabilities.
The ceremony will be attended by Dr. Hisham Arafat, Minister of Transport and Transportation, Dr. Amr Abdulsalam Shat, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications and Supervisor of the National Tunnels Authority, Prof. Ashraf Abu Karisha, Deputy Chairman of the National Tunnels Authority, and Ms. Amna Al-Sai, Founder and Chairman of Helm Foundation Board and Ramez Maher – Founder and Executive Director of Helm Foundation.
The bank’s participation, as a platinum sponsor, is part of the “Accessibility Matters” project launched last year, with the aim of integrating persons with disabilities in all areas of life. The project aims to implement changes to the Cairo and Faisal Metro stations. These changes will include the design of pedestrian paths suitable for the use of visually impaired persons, the modification or construction of access points’ slopes, facilitation of ticketing, reaching train platforms and other changes aimed at improving the degree of availability of the station to receive and service people with disabilities.
Efforts will also be made to sensitize and train staff members on how to deal with persons with disabilities, whilst also making transportation more accessible to disabled persons and others, such as elders, pregnant women, patients and persons with temporary disabilities.
The project is expected to contribute to the area of Cairo University, benefiting more than 5,000 people with disabilities and more than 1,000 students and university employees, out of 250,000 according to the statistical data of the total number of Cairo University’s visitors in 2018. This is because; most of the students and workers are often faced with various obstructions on their way to university.
Attijariwafa bank Egypt’s representative stated that the “Accessibility Matters” project is an embodiment of the importance of synergy between the three sides of the golden triangle, represented by the private sector, the public sector and civil society’s institutions. The representative also stressed that the Bank is making great efforts in support of the disabled, like the signing of an employment agreement with Helm Foundation Consultancy to open doors for the creation of employment opportunities in the bank for people with special needs through the same agreement, 30% of summer training was specified for people with disabilities.
The Bank had also sponsored the “We Can” forum, in line with the Country’s tendency to increase attention to persons with disabilities and work on activating the law of rehabilitation of the disabled, which was issued in 1975 to provide opportunities for the disabled. These opportunities enable them to receive vocational training and qualifications as well as to obtain jobs based on the government’s policy, with 5% jobs in companies which is more than 50 employees.
Attijariwafa bank Egypt, in collaboration with Helm Foundation, trains staff members at the Bank’s branches on the basic services that should be provided to disabled clients and assigns ambassadors to the branch staff, to provide banking services at the highest level. The bank is now looking to sign an agreement to make the Attijariwafa bank’s branches network more accessible to everyone achieving the goals of financial inclusion.