Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality has reached 20,000 disabled residents through its Disability Mapping Project, delivered in coordination with 17 district municipalities to improve services for disabled people.

Led by the Municipality’s Department of Services for People with Disabilities and Older People, the work aims to establish a city-wide profile of disability and identify needs across Diyarbakır. Through fieldwork carried out in partnership with the 17 district municipalities, the Metropolitan Municipality is seeking to create a comprehensive disability map of the city.

Door-to-door identification

Field teams established under the project visit households door to door to record information about disabled residents. As part of efforts to improve living conditions, all relevant details are documented via standard forms and compiled under the project’s fieldwork coordination structure.

‘We reached 20,000 residents in nine months’

Providing information about the work, Mustafa Yaşar, Fieldwork General Coordinator at the Department of Services for People with Disabilities and Older People, said the Disability Map is being delivered under the Metropolitan Municipality’s 2025–2029 Strategic Action Plan. He noted:

“Our Disability Map work is being carried out across 17 districts with 40 staff. Since April 2025, through our fieldwork over a nine-month period, we have reached 20,000 disabled residents across Diyarbakır.”

Data assessed through scientific analysis

Yaşar stated that the data collected will play an important role in shaping the Municipality’s service policies, and emphasised that the work will enable disabled residents to access social assistance, education and rehabilitation services more easily.

He added that field teams do more than collect data:

“Our staff also provide guidance and signposting in the field. Based on identified needs, residents are referred to relevant public bodies and organisations. The data collected is assessed through statistical and scientific analysis, forming the basis of our municipal database.”