Workshop on Arab Classification for Disability Kicked Off in Doha

The second workshop on the Arab classification of disability, organized by the Ministry of Social Development and the Family in cooperation with the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, kicked off on Monday, June 27, in Doha, over two days at the Sheraton Hotel.

The workshop was attended by Her Excellency Mrs. Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misnad, Minister of Social Development and Family, His Excellency Mr. Ayman Al-Mufleh, Minister of Social Development in the  Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Head of the Executive Office of the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs, and Ambassador Dr. Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, Assistant Secretary-General of the League of the Arab States, Head of the Social Affairs Sector, a number of Their Excellencies the heads of delegations of the   Arab countries, and a delegation from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia "ESCWA".

The workshop dealt with the importance of linking the degree of disability and the extent of the need for assistance and support to achieve the independence of persons with disabilities and their eligibility to obtain services. Also, perceptions of services and programs needed by persons with disabilities were developed after classification processes and linking disability with appropriate services in all aspects.

During the opening session, Her Excellency Mrs. Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misnad, Minister of Social Development and Family, spoke and said: "Over the past years, strenuous and capable Arab efforts have been made in empowering and integrating persons with disabilities in our societies. But the tangible evidence on which our diagnosis is based in the State of Qatar leads us to firmly believe that these efforts have fallen below the level of expectations in the Arab framework, for the main reason that is reflected in the lack of policies and programs to support persons with disabilities in the Arab environment to a unified classification that keeps pace with disability.”

The Minister pointed out that the State of Qatar has contributed during the past decades and continues to harness all possible means to care for persons with disabilities, both at the local and international levels, and this was evident in mid-June when it headed the delegation of the State of Qatar participating in the fifteenth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Convention. The rights of persons with disabilities, as it was announced from the United Nations Headquarters in New York that the State of Qatar is ready to host the Fourth World Summit on Disability in 2028, in cooperation with the International Disability Alliance.

Her Excellency said: "There are less than five months left for our country to host the first World Cup in the history of the region, and we are fully prepared to receive football fans with disabilities in the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

And the past years have witnessed unparalleled preparations to ensure that this tournament is the most accessible for people with disabilities in the history of world championships.”