President of DILANS Indonesia, Farhan Helmy, said that the interaction between his party and FAD ITB had been going on for a long time. This resulted in many collaborations for the inclusivity of people with disabilities.

He said that until now there are still many social facilities that are not suited for people with disabilities. However, DILANS Indonesia continues to strive to invite every party to care about this matter.

The big aim of this activity, he said, was to socialize and advocate issues for disability and the elders (including any related issues) to various stakeholders, in both national and international scale. It also create a "market place" to bring together ideas, learning, and various aspirations from multi-party collaboration in an effort to accelerate implementation. as well as encouraging partners to commit in mobilizing fund resources either through program-based partnerships or partnerships through the DILANS Indonesia’s fundraising initiative.

According to him, the climate crisis (when the earth's temperature rises exceeding the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius) affects people with disabilities and elderly the most. Therefore, efforts to prevent this must be carefully carried out by various parties as the number of disabled and elderly people in Indonesia has reached tens of millions of people and around 1 billion people in the world.

"We are not here just to commemorate International Day of Persons with Disabilities," he said.

The activities that DILANS Indonesia carries out, one of which is in collaboration with FAD ITB, is a continuous effort to fulfill the rights of people with disabilities. One of the big activities held on 2-10 December 2023, coincides with International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

He hoped that various scientific, technological and artistic innovations from ITB can change views and behavior towards  people with disabilities. It is also hoped to solve the hurdles they faced.

Meanwhile, the Dean of FAD ITB, Dr. Andryanto Rikrik Kusmara, M.Sn., welcomed the initiatives from various parties, especially the collaboration with DILANS Indonesia.

"I gladly accept this event. I am sure that many people will be inspired by Kang Farhan and DILANS Indonesia so then we have a better civilization. Starting from the closest circle, the outer circle, to the global circle," he said.

Reporter: M. Naufal Hafizh
Translator: Ayesha Lativa Mafaza (Postharvest Technology 2021)
Editor: Anggi Nurdiani (Management, 2024)