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April 29, 2025
Excellence,
Mr. Bilal Ahmad, permanent representative of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,
Mr. Xu Chen, permanent representative of the People’s Republic of China,
Estimated representatives of the permanent missions to the United Nations,
Colleagues from United Nations agencies and civil society organizations,
This was a fascinating discussion – and the one that has been waiting for some time.
Allow me to present Mahmoud Ajjour – he performed nine – which was injured during an attack on Gaza City in March 2024. An explosion cut one of the arms and mutilated the other.
After being evacuated in Qatar for medical care and rehabilitation, Mahmoud is learning to use his feet to play on his phone, write and open doors.
It needs support for most daily activities, such as eating and dressing.
We never had to know Mahmoud.
He should spend his days at school, playing ball with his friends, negotiating with his parents during the moment to bed – living anonymously that ordinary and joyful life that every child deserves.
But now the world knows the name of Mahmoud – not for anything he has done, but for what has been done to him.
There are too many children like Mahmoud in our region.
In fact, the number of children who need assistance technology and rehabilitation in the context of emergency responses is increasing significantly due to the increase in conflicts, natural dangers and the outbreaks of diseases.
Children under the age of 15 represent 40 % of the victims of civil traumas and often die prematurely or acquire long -term disability. Many of these cases are linked to injuries related to war: amputations, spinal cord lesions, brain lesions and loss of vision or heard by explosions.
And this burden is not limited to children.
Today, over 100 million people in the Eastern Mediterranean region of WHO require assistance technologies such as hearing aids, mobility devices, communication tools or prostheses. Yet only a small fraction – one in ten of them – has access.
Almost 180 million people throughout the region live in a health condition that could benefit from rehabilitation services. More than half of those of sixty and superior requires assistance technology.
Among the populations of refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, one in four people live with chronic impairment, injuries or conditions of health, facing further obstacles to access to the support they need.
Rehabilitation services throughout the region remain fragmented. The professional ability is limited. The supply chains for quality assistance products are not reliable. And the emergencies, unfortunately, affect more hard where the systems are already weaker.
Rehabilitation and assistance technology are not a “nice to have”: they are a fundamental part of health care and a fundamental component of universal health coverage, especially in emergencies.
We must now invest to build stronger and more resilient systems that can respond when people need it most.
Today’s request for action outlines three critical areas of interest:
First of all, institutional strengthening and pre-setting: we must build systems, personnel and stock products before the next emergency shots.
Secondly, preparation: countries must integrate rehabilitation and assistance technology in national emergency plans, ensuring that they are part of the first response, not a rethinking.
Thirdly, an emergency response: we must guarantee that when crisis occur, quick and coordinated assistance technology can be activated immediately.
The recent work of those who in Morocco (2023) and Myanmar (2025) shows how early action saves life and reduces long -term impairments.
In Gaza, who is working to evaluate the needs, provide assistance products and coordinate rehabilitation services in the midst of devastating conflicts.
Rehabilitation professionals are now incorporated into emergency doctors supported by WHO globally and trauma kits include essential rehabilitation supplies.
But with over 300 million people around the world affected by humanitarian crises, it is necessary to do much more.
The WHO multi-partner program tries to collect $ 35 million in three years to guide a complete global action to ensure access to assistance technology and rehabilitation services in humanitarian crises.
I invite you to join us in supporting this critical initiative that puts our commitment shared for dignity, equity and resilience for everyone in action.
Finally, I warmly thank the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China for supporting this agenda by hosting today’s event.
Thank you.
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