Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality will create a Disability Map through a joint effort with 17 district municipalities in order to improve services for people with disabilities.

While continuing its services for citizens with disabilities, the Department of Adult Social Care Services has launched work on the Disability Map Project. A meeting on the project was held at Çand Amed Culture and Congress Centre under the coordination of the Metropolitan Municipality with the participation of relevant units from 17 district municipalities. With the aim of providing better services for citizens with disabilities, the Metropolitan Municipality will create a Disability Map in cooperation with the 17 district municipalities.

‘The goal is to reach 230,000 people with disabilities’

In his opening remarks, İsmail Değirmenci, Head of the Department of Adult Social Care Services, informed the participants about the content of the project. Stating that the work is being carried out within the framework of the 2025–2029 Strategic Plan and the Accessibility Action Plan, Değirmenci said: “We hope that this initiative, which we believe will serve as a model in Turkey, will be beneficial. Within the scope of our 2025–2029 Strategic Plan, we have launched such a project in order to work effectively, efficiently and with the right methodology, targeting 230,000 citizens with disabilities. We have always emphasised that such a project is essential also for the identification of needs.”

Fieldwork to be carried out

As part of the project, personnel from the Metropolitan Municipality and district municipalities will visit households, identify individuals with disabilities, and conduct surveys. Within the framework of the Disability Map Project, municipal staff will carry out fieldwork using a needs-mapping form. The collected data will be transferred monthly into the database of the Directorate of Disability and Elderly Services. The project is expected to be completed within three years, resulting in the creation of the Disability Map.

Project will contribute to the improvement of services

Through the project, the number of citizens with disabilities in the city, their regional distribution, disability status, employment and educational information will be identified. The project will contribute to improving services for people with disabilities and will support rapid intervention in disasters, emergencies and potential extraordinary situations.