JEDDAH, 26 September 2007 — An agreement was signed here yesterday at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) for a project that will provide jobs and training for the blind and the deaf.
Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Ahmed, head of the National Committee to Combat Blindness, signed the agreement with Adel ibn Abdullah Arif, chairman of the Deaf Club at the Human Resource Fund in the Makkah Region; Saleh Al-Turki, chairman of the JCCI; and Hisham Linjawi, head of the Human Resource Fund in the Makkah Region. The National Committee to Combat Blindness will be responsible for formulating a training strategy, in addition to hiring trainers and training facilities. The Deaf Club has been assigned the same duties for the deaf.
Meanwhile, the Human Resource Fund has been tasked to provide funding for the habilitation and training phases, provide technical and administrative advice to centers that serve the deaf and the blind and coordinate with other bodies to secure job vacancies for the disabled. The JCCI’s role is to secure jobs in the private sector for the deaf and the blind once they complete their rehabilitation and training phases in addition to holding seminars and programs to encourage companies to hire disabled employees.
Prince Abdul Aziz expressed hope that the program would provide hundreds of jobs for the deaf and blind. There are 73 million blind people worldwide, 0.7 percent of which are in the Kingdom.
Saleh Al-Turki said the JCCI is keen on working and cooperating with community services institutions in providing jobs for the disabled. The chamber will not hesitate to provide all the possible support in order to integrate them into different work areas, Al-Turki added.
