As part of its efforts to bring a comprehensive community development, the UAE Government launched a national policy for empowering people of determination. The policy aims to create an inclusive society for them and their families, through services and facilities that accommodate their needs.
The UAE Government decided the following:
- Referring to people with special needs or disabilities as ‘the determined ones’
- Assigning an official at every government institution that will be responsible for facilitating services for people with special needs. The official’s title will be ‘the Service Officer for the Determined Ones’
- Setting up an advisory council which will consist of federal and local government entities and members of society who will provide their advice for achieving the goals of the national policy.
Pillars of the national policy
The national policy is based on 6 pillars:
- Health and rehabilitation: The government will provide a comprehensive high-quality health care, as well as post-accident rehabilitation programmes and health programmes for this segment. It would invest more on researches about special needs, hereditary and rare diseases that cause impediments. A national programme would be launched for early detection and diagnosis of impairments.
- Education: The government will provide an integrative education system in public and vocational education and adapt school curricula to cater their needs. It will also provide qualified teachers and specialists, appropriate supportive technologies and learning materials.
- Vocational rehabilitation and employment: The government will provide vocational rehabilitation programmes for people with disabilities. It will initiate supportive policies to recruit them in government and private institutions, in addition to creating a database of information about their needs.
- Outreach: The government will implement unified criteria for buildings requirements, taking into consideration the needs of people with special needs.
- Social protection and family empowerment: The government will ensure that federal and local legislations for people with special needs are in harmony with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A hotline will be set up to receive any complaints from the people with special needs.
- Public life, culture and sports: The government will ensure the integration of people with special needs into various cultural, sports and social activities through various competitions and awareness programmes.
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