Sylvana Lakkis

Sylvana is the chair of the Arab forum for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (AFRPD) and the regional representative of Disabled People International (DPI). She is the second deputy-chair of Disabled People’s International. She is also the president/CEO of the Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union (LPHU).

Through her career as a disability advocate, Sylvana has led a series of campaigns for promoting rights of persons with disabilities in Lebanon to inclusion.

At the operational level, she has led the production of a broad series of modules of accessibility and inclusive development.

As one of the main disability leaders in Lebanon, she has been advocating for the enforcement of the Lebanese Disability law, the ratification of the CRPD, and promoting disability inclusion, mainly in area of environmental accessibility, employment, inclusive education, political participation, and access to information.

Today, Sylvana holds a prominent position within the Lebanese civil society as a human rights advocate, where she has been serving on boards of different national organisations promoting the practice of disability inclusion. Between the years 2008-2012, she was appointed as a disability advisor for the Minister of Social Affairs in Lebanon. Beyond her profile as a national disability rights leader, Sylvana is recognised as a regional and international expert on issues of disability rights to employment and accessibility. She has been recognised as such by the International Labor Organization, The Zero Project Initiative, Civicus, The World Congress on Inclusive Tourism, bdi and many others. She has been a keynote speaker and panelist at major regional and international events with the World Bank and different UN agencies. In addition, she has also authored many articles and book chapters on issues of disability inclusion.