Including Samuel Supports Iraqi Disability Rights

The award-winning documentary film Including Samuel is partnering with Mercy Corps, a global relief and development agency, to support the growing civil rights movement of the two million—nearly 1 in 13—Iraqi citizens who experience a disability. In addition to being translated into Arabic, the film will be incorporated into the Mercy Corps People with Disabilities Advocacy Program, which is designed to provide education, advocacy, and outreach to ensure that Iraqis with disabilities fully participate in society.

“In a country where the word ‘accessibility’ lacks definition, resources like Including Samuel help create an understanding of how people with disabilities can be included in all aspects of society,” said Tiana Tozer, Mercy Corps Iraq program manager. “The film will enhance the Mercy Corps People with Disabilities Advocacy Program by sparking our young advocates’ creativity and imaginations, and opening their eyes to the possibilities of what Iraq can be for them in the future.”

There is strong societal and internal stigma that Iraqis with disabilities face each day, Tozer says. Changing cultural attitudes that exist toward people with disabilities is central to the Mercy Corps People with Disabilities Advocacy Program as well as the message of Including Samuel.

Dan Habib, director, producer, and cinematographer of Including Samuel, says that there is a universal truth about people with disabilities around the world. “They are generally undervalued and underestimated, whether it is my son Samuel in Concord, New Hampshire, or a young boy in Baghdad who lost a limb to the war.”

For more information on Including Samuel, visit www.includingsamuel.com.