Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Saturday that participation in the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York is Iran's "legal right."
"Being present in New York holds absolutely no appeal for Iran's representatives. However, it is a stronghold that must not be abandoned. Iran's participation in the UNGA's session is a legal right, not a favor to be granted to us by someone. Iran is one of the UN's 50 founding members," Baghaei said in an interview with state-run IRIB TV.
"It is our duty as the Iranian nation's representatives to attend this major international event to make the world hear the Iranian people's rightfulness," he said, accusing "the other side" of employing every available tool to prevent the Iranian delegation's participation.
Such "obstructionism and negative propaganda" will never make Iran back down from its legitimate right to participate in the session and articulate its positions, he said.
The United States said it would issue visas to Iran's "core delegation" for the UNGA "consistent with our host country obligations," according to a statement by the U.S. State Department on Thursday.
"The delegation is smaller than last year," the statement said.
Iran says participation in UNGA session its "legal right"
A massive public health blind spot has emerged in the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as communication barriers are leaving many people with hearing impairment cut off from crucial health information about the deadly outbreak.
Since the ongoing Ebola epidemic was declared in May, the Congolese Red Cross (CRC) has launched a nationwide awareness-raising campaign, with posters put up on the streets and health messages broadcast on television and radio stations to reach as many residents as possible.
However, for the nation's deaf community, these life-saving updates have been hitting a wall of silence.
In the northeastern city of Kisangani, many deaf people still struggle to understand the message being disseminated, as it is not tailored to their specific needs.
"So far, preventive measures have only been explained to us superficially. We aren't truly equipped. We need adapted educational materials to better understand the signs of the disease and recognize the symptoms of Ebola," said Zacharie Dunga, director of the Espoir School for the Deaf in Kisangani.
The DRC government has announced targeted intervention plans, promising to restructure its public health response to fully integrate people with disabilities.
"We have implemented a range of strategies tailored to each group, including people with disabilities --the visually impaired, and the deaf or hard of hearing. We have produced communication materials in Braille. We are also refining our messaging to see how we can incorporate sign language interpreters to convey information regarding EVD (Ebola Virus Disease)," said Christian Tshilenge, an expert in risk communication and community engagement.
The current outbreak has become the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic in the DRC's history and the second largest globally, behind the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa.
According to the latest data released by the DRC government, the country has recorded 7,541 confirmed Ebola infections as of Saturday, with 3,639 fatalities.
Communication barriers put deaf community at risk amid ebola outbreak in DR Congo
