CAIRO, May 28 (Aswat Masriya) – An Egyptian court ruling affirmed on Sunday that individuals with special needs have a right to being appointed to public posts according to the 5 per cent ratio reserved for them by the law.

The Administrative Court said that the state is obliged to uphold the ruling and respect the principle of equal opportunities.

The court ruling comes after an Egyptian citizen, Mohamed Salah, filed a lawsuit against the head of the State Litigation Authority demanding the provision of equal opportunities in public posts for people with special needs.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi alluded in his speech on Labour Day to the need to include individuals with special needs in the labor market and called on businessmen to adhere to the 5 per cent quota allocated to those with special needs.  

The Egyptian government seeks to devise a strategy to support and empower people with special needs. In this regard, the National Council for Disability Affairs was established in September 2014.

The head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt, Ambassador James Moran, had announced in April 2015 the allocation of 10 million euros for the provision of different services for people with special needs in Egypt.

Article 81 of Egypt’s 2014 constitution states: "The State shall guarantee the health, economic, social, cultural, entertainment, sporting and educational rights of persons with disabilities and dwarves, strive to provide them with job opportunities, allocate a percentage of job opportunities to them, and adapt public facilities and their surrounding environment to their special needs."