Date: 18 December
Location: Egypt’s Great Pyramids

The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador for Arab States, Michael Haddad, will embark on a 5-kilometres walk alongside a group of fellow differently abled Egyptian athletes, to call for measures to enhance inclusion of persons with disabilities (PwD) in social and economic activities without barriers, through the use of assistive technologies.

UNDP is partnering with the Egyptian Sports Federation for Intellectual Disabilities to organize the walk, which will take place at the foot of Egypt’s Great Pyramids, under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoY&S) and in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities (MoT&A).

The walk help raise awareness on the importance of assistive technologies to the empowerment and independence of PwD, as a new area of programming that UNDP is planning to pursue in Egypt, in line with the promise of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind.

An endurance athlete who is paralyzed from the chest down, Haddad has devised his own unique “step-to-gait” method of movement, using a high-tech exoskeleton to stabilize his chest and legs. The Egypt walk is part of a series of walks that he is planning in several countries under his “Stepping Ahead of COVID” initiative, which aims to raise awareness and mobilize resources to help mitigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic on the most vulnerable and advocate for inclusive and green post-pandemic recovery.