Dubai will be ‘a place for everyone’
Shaikh Hamdan launches initiative to give more opportunities to disabled community
dubai — Sign language and Braille will be commonplace in Dubai by 2020 — which will be “a place for everyone” — if Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has his way.
The “My community... a city for everyone” initiative, launched on Saturday, will also see the setting up of a hotline whereby people can report any sign of discrimination, abuse, negligence or exploitation against those with special needs.
With the vision of making the whole of Dubai a disabled-friendly city, Shaikh Hamdan said Dubai is keen on creating the best environ- ment that is supportive to disabled people “because they are an integral part of the fabric of society.”
And with the ability to give to society not bordered by physical disability, he said Dubai is working hard to enable everyone the opportunity to invest their energies into the positive development of the country, with a particular focus on the disabled community.
“Our role lies in creating alternatives and solutions that enable them to exercise their normal life and to facilitate their access to all services.”
The priority, he said on Twitter, is to improve services for these people, with staff at “all relevant entities” being taught sign language, and all key services being available in Braille “so our community truly becomes a place for
Our community truly becomes a place for everyone. People living with disabilities are active members of society, endowed with a will to succeed and partners in social and economic development
everyone. People living with disabilities are active members of society, endowed with a will to succeed and partners in social and economic development,” his Twitter account read.
Shaikh Hamdan’s vision aims to maximise the participation and integration of this category in the community, and to create new opportunities through which disabled residents can overcome all the obstacles that may stand in the way of positively engaging and integrating in their social environment.
He directed all government departments, institutions and bodies in Dubai to take the immediate measures that would lead to concrete and tangible steps to support previous and present positive efforts in Dubai in this regard, and directed all government bodies to augment the new initiative and its objectives. Within the framework of the initiative, an immediate drafting of a law to protect the disabled individuals in Dubai has been instructed, as well as the launch of the hotline. The “My community... a city for everyone” initiative was developed by the Secretariat of the Dubai Executive Council team in collaboration with the Community Development Authority following the directives and follow-up from Shaikh Hamdan. —