RIYADH, 30 October — Two major organizations — Riyad Bank and Schneider Electric — have joined hands with the Disabled Children’s Association to support an ambitious program aimed at integrating handicapped children into the mainstream by donating it substantial sums of money.
The donations come in line with the keen desire of Prince Sultan ibn Salman, chairman of the DCA’s board of trustees, to make the association financially independent.
Prince Sultan said that "we have undertaken a restructuring program to decentralize our growing operation and to seek support of the people and private sector organizations to make DCA’s chapters across the country self-sufficient in terms of funds."
Prince Sultan was speaking after receiving donations from the leading commercial bank, Riyad Bank, and Schneider Electric, a major electrical products manufacturer.
Prince Sultan said DCA is also "working to reorganize the whole operation, decentralize the management and to build international partnerships, which will benefit the DCA’s institutions and eventually the handicapped children."
This is in addition to an endowment fund, currently being set up by the association to tackle the growing disability problem, said the prince. "We are also looking forward to setting up DCA chapter in Hail", added the prince.
The move to open more facilities for the disabled children across the country is significant keeping in view the fact a total of 10 to 15 percent of the Saudi population are suffering from one or other type of disabilities, according to Dr. Stephen R.Schroeder, PSCDR’s executive director.
"Out of this, it is surprising to note that nearly 18 percent are suffering from disabilities because of genetic factors — which is much higher in Saudi Arabia than anywhere else in the world", he said.
Referring to the generous support provided by Schneider Electric, a Saudi-French joint venture company, to the DCA, K. Roshanlal, Schneider’s country manager, said that his company also hosted 20 disabled children by inviting them to its facility in Riyadh, where a small workshop was organized for the children earlier.
The move was intended to instill a feeling of self-confidence among children and to integrate them into the mainstream, said Roshanlal.
DCA recently signed a major agreement with Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG). The agreement stipulates that the SRMG publications, including Arab News, will help DCA to generate awareness and the group will also provide different kinds of media services for the next five years. SRMG will also provide advertising and publicity services to Prince Salman Center for Disability Research (PSCDR).
DCA has also instituted two prizes for individuals who make outstanding contributions to the field of disability research, service and rehabilitation. DCA has already set up four chapters in Makkah, Jeddah, Madinah and Al-Jouf, where a large number of children have been admitted for treatment and therapy.
These centers boast world-class facilities including occupational therapy, orthotics, speech pathology unit and a nursing department.
