RIYADH, 4 December 2003 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, will inaugurate the first-ever festival for the handicapped here on Dec. 16. The aim is to highlight the need to rehabilitate those with disabilities.
Among other things, the festival will feature an exhibition on facilities for the handicapped, and a seminar on the education and training for disabled people as well as a scholarship program tailored to their needs.
The venue of the three-day event, to be held under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, is the conference hall of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University.
A number of public and private organizations from the Kingdom and abroad as well as philanthropic associations will participate in the festival.
Addressing a press conference, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Dr. Ali Al-Namlah said the initiative for the festival, which would be first of a series, came from King Fahd.
Handicapped people in the Kingdom now account for some four percent of the population against 7.5 to 10 percent in the past, the minister said. Various rehabilitation schemes have helped many disabled integrate into society.
It is estimated that handicapped males form 57.3 percent of the disabled population, females account for 42.7 percent. The incidence of disability is high in first-cousin marriages.
Asked about the measures taken by the government for rehabilitating the handicapped, Dr. Al-Namlah said an amount of SR50,000 was allocated to every vocationally qualified handicapped person to help him or her undertake individual or group projects.
The beneficiary would also be eligible for a 50 percent discount on public transport facilities — whether plane, train or a ship. Special housing units have also been provided to 6,500 severely handicapped people. This is expected to rise to 8,000. This is in addition to financial support for 86,000 disabled individuals.
He said his ministry was disbursing more than SR500 million annually toward social welfare schemes for the handicapped. The amount includes SR390 million distributed annually among households of the disabled population.
Dr. Al-Namlah paid tributes to the private sector for its contribution to the welfare of the handicapped. “They are doing a good job. We are monitoring 16 centers run by private sector organizations in the Kingdom,” he said, adding: “We only give them advice or lend our expertise if and when necessary.”
The minister said the private sector is required to hire at least two percent of their work force from the disabled persons. “The private sector is meeting its obligation in this regard,” he said.
Among the employment avenues available to them include electricity, carpentry and tailoring sections as well as the fields of electronics, computer operation, maintenance and programming, bookbinding, gardening, plumbing, etc. Job opportunities for handicapped women include hand-made/machine-made knitting, tailoring and embroidery, whether by hand or by machinery.
