RIYADH, 29 May 2006 — More than 100,000 disabled Saudis are to be given annual grants worth over half a billion riyals in a new initiative announced by the Ministry of Social Affairs.
“This is a program aimed at helping handicapped people living in the Kingdom to provide and fend for themselves,” said Awad Al-Radadi, the deputy minister of social affairs for welfare and social development.
Al-Radadi announced the news while releasing funds through various institutions providing aid to handicapped people. He added that the ministry was hoping to materialize the vision of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who is keen to ensure help is offered to the disabled. “The handicapped are special people who need the love and care of the better off,” added Al-Radadi.
Under the funding program, a total of 109,370 disabled people will receive stipends totaling SR482,544,500 for the current Hijri year (which ends in mid-January 2007). Al-Radadi added that the purpose of the grants was to enable the handicapped to live decent quality lives without becoming a burden on their families and communities.
Al-Radadi said that the beneficiaries included handicapped men and women that reside in government-sponsored rehabilitation centers and others who live at their own homes. Presently the ministry operates three types of centers that look after the handicapped. These include two polio centers, 12 vocational training centers for disabled men and women and 18 comprehensive rehabilitation handicapped centers where patients, who can neither work nor live at their own homes due to disabilities, reside. “These people are provided with boarding and lodging paid for by the ministry,” the official said.
The deputy minister also added that polio sufferers that live with their parents are given SR1,000 to SR8,000 per year for their upkeep.
In addition to the grants, the ministry also launched an awareness program called “Try the Wheelchair”. The program invites officers to try sitting in a wheelchair while at office. “Initiatives like these will hopefully allow officers to understand what handicapped people experience on a daily basis,” said Al-Radadi.
Al-Radadi added that the ministry had also sent out requests calling people to help the disabled in public places. The minister noted that members of both the pubic and private sectors had also been requested to ensure offices and buildings were designed in ways suiting the needs of handicapped people.
People that are handicapped, their parents and accredited relatives can obtain payments from various governmental rehabilitation centers and designated institutes.
