The Accessibility Fair and Awareness Summit, which will be hosted by the Ministry of Family and Social Services under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, will be held at the Istanbul Expo Center on December 1-4, 2022. The first "National Action Plan on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" will be announced in the program which will be attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Minister of Family and Social Services Derya Yanık.

The 12th Accessibility Fair and Awareness Summit, which will be held under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye and hosted by the Ministry of Family and Social Services, will be held at the Istanbul Expo Center between 1 and 4 December 2022, covering the 3 December International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The Opening of the Accessibility Fair and Awareness Summit will be held on December 1 with the participation of Derya Yanık, Minister of Family and Social Services. On December 2, the first “National Action Plan on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” will be announced with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“The Barrier-Free Vision Document is planned to be implemented with action plans”

Minister Derya Yanık said that the "Accessibility Fair and Awareness Summit", which is organized to minimize the obstacles in the access of persons with disabilities and older persons to health, rehabilitation and professional care, and to contribute to their integration into all areas of social life, will bring together all persons with disabilities with relevant sector stakeholders.

Reminding that the Barrier-Free Vision, which will be the road map of Türkiye until 2030 in the field of disability, was announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities last year, Minister Yanık said: “The vision document has been prepared by taking the opinions of the responsible public institutions and organizations. It consists of 31 targets and 107 action areas under 8 headings; "Inclusive and Accessible Society", "Rights Protection and Justice", "Health and Well-Being", "Inclusive Education", "Economic Security", "Independent Living", "Disaster and Humanitarian Emergencies" and "Implementation and Monitoring".

Minister Yanık said:

“With our 2030 Barrier-Free Vision, which reveals what needs to be done legally, institutionally and practically for all parties, with a rights-based and inclusive approach, we reveal Türkiye's vision for becoming a society where persons with disabilities can realize their potential as equal citizens. It was planned to implement the Barrier-Free Vision Document with action plans. In this context, we organized 13 workshops with the participation of representatives from relevant public institutions and organizations and civil society organizations operating in the field of disability, and as a result of the feedback received from the participants in these workshops, we prepared the National Action Plan on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, consisting of 275 activities covering the years 2023-2025. The first "National Action Plan on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities", which we have prepared to ensure the implementation of the 2030 Barrier-Free Vision, will be announced by our President at the Accessibility Fair and Awareness Summit. I wish our National Action Plan to be beneficial, and I hope that the 3 December International Day of Persons with Disabilities will lead to awareness on the rights and problems of persons with disabilities and accessibility in our country and in the world.”