Skip to content

A Conversation with Mohammed Ali Loutfy

Speakers

Mohammed Ali Loutfy Director of Capacity Building and Advocacy at G3ict – The Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs
Guest: Mohammed Ali Loutfy
Director of Capacity Building and Advocacy at G3ict – The Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs
Jonathan Martinis Senior Director for Law and Policy
Host: Jonathan Martinis
Senior Director for Law and Policy

Description:

In this episode of “504 at 50,” Dr. Mohammed Ali Loutfy, director of advocacy and capacity building at Global Initiative for Inclusive Innovation and Communication Technologies (G3ICT) and former executive director of Disabled People’s International, speaks to Jonathan Martinis about his experiences of becoming disabled and becoming a global disability activist. He shares his experiences of being denied admission to law school, advocating for the civil rights of people with disabilities in both his home country of Lebanon and the United States, and learning about how different countries view disability. Though the American approach to disability is often criticized, it is a vast improvement over Lebanon.

Dr. Loutfy also discusses the lessons he has learned as a blind person throughout his career, including his time at the World Bank and as Executive Director of Disabled People’s International (DPI). He emphasizes that the number of people with disabilities is increasing, and we must overhaul the current welfare systems. He describes the importance, particularly in developing countries, of disabled people having opportunities to engage in the various aspects of community development.

Summary

  • Loutfy describes his experiences of becoming disabled and becoming a global disability activist.
  • He shares his experiences of being denied admission to law school, advocating for the civil rights of people with disabilities in both his home country of Lebanon and the United States, and learning about how different countries view disability. Though the American approach to disability is often criticized, it is a vast improvement over Lebanon.
  • Loutfy also discusses the lessons he has learned as a blind person throughout his career, including his time at the World Bank and as Executive Director of Disabled People’s International (DPI).
  • He emphasizes that the number of people with disabilities is increasing, and we must overhaul the current welfare systems.
  • He describes the importance, particularly in developing countries, of disabled people having opportunities to engage in the various aspects of community development.

More about Mohammed Ali Loutfy, Director of Capacity Building and Advocacy at G3ict – The Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs

Mohammed Ali Loutfy Director of Capacity Building and Advocacy at G3ict – The Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTsDr. Loutfy is an international development professional specializing in the inclusion of persons with disabilities across a wide range of developmental programming. In Fall 2019, Mohammed earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the American University of Washington, DC. His dissertation addressed the impact of persons with disabilities’ experiences with service providers and disability advocacy organizations in Lebanon.

Prior to that in 2009 and as a Fulbright Scholar, Mohammed had earned his master’s degree in International Development, also from the American University, where his thesis focused on evaluating the commitment of the World Bank to pursuing disability inclusion in its education funded programs in the Middle East and North Africa Region. Before that in 2001, Mohammed earned his degree in Public Law from the Lebanese University in Beirut, where he focused his studies on human rights and disability. Since 2016, Mohammed has been the Representative of Disabled People’s International (DPI) at the United Nations, where he co-chairs the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities to the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Until very recently, and since 2014, Mohammed served as Executive Director of the Arab Forum for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, where he leads the forum’s strategic planning and partnership building initiatives in addition to its organizational development and policy programming.

en_USEnglish
en_USEnglish