Bahrain will join the Arab world in celebrating the 48th session of the Arab Deaf Week under the theme “The Importance of Modern Technology in Educating the Death and Improving their Culture”.
Observed during the last week of April every year, the Arab Deaf Week aims to spread awareness of the importance of sign language to contribute to the integration of the deaf into their societies.
It also seeks to inform society about the reality of deaf people, especially children, and the need to help people with hearing disabilities to learn, rehabilitate, and integrate educationally, socially and economically.
On the occasion, Social Development Minister, Osama bin Ahmed Khalaf Al-Asfoor, asserted that people with hearing disabilities receive great attention from all the relevant authorities.
He affirmed the keenness of the government and society to take advantage of Arab Deaf Week an annual occasion to shed light on the rights of people with hearing and speech impairment, as well as the challenges facing them.
The aim is to mobilise all kinds of support, rehabilitation and empowerment for them in a way that would enhance their effective and positive role in the comprehensive and sustainable social and economic development, he said.
In this regard, he stressed the importance of harnessing technologies to remove the obstacles they face and building bridges of communication with them, through community partnership, which would allow them to live their lives normally and obtain their rights to education, work and social life, as they are an important and active part of society.
He underlined the Social Development Ministry’s constant endeavours to increase the number of services and programmes delivered to the deaf, in line with the general principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which emphasised the right to participate in cultural, social, educational life and recreational activities.
He asserted that the Social Development Ministry has sought to achieve a quantum leap in the services it provides to the deaf, through the Shaikhan Al Farsi Center for Total Communication, which is specialised in rehabilitating and educating people with hearing disabilities and enabling them to complete and develop basic educational competencies in the early stages in order to facilitate their integration into the Ministry of Education.
He added that the centre prepares the beneficiaries for total and comprehensive inclusion in a healthy educational environment, as a civilised step that has placed the Kingdom among the countries with pioneering and successful experiences in the actual inclusion of persons with disabilities.
He affirmed that the law on the welfare, rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities has contributed to enabling people with disabilities, including hearing-impaired persons, to live a normal and independent life, by disbursing a monthly allowance from which more than 2,200 persons with hearing disabilities have benefited.
He added that the Social Development Ministry provides hearing aids for citizens with disabilities who meet the eligibility criteria, in addition to free training services to obtain driving licenses in partnership with the General Directorate of Traffic.
He indicated that the upgraded ID card for people with disabilities has paved the way for the deaf to take advantage of the facilities and privileges of government agencies and ministries designated for people with disabilities, in addition to up to 50% discount rates from institutions and shops on goods and services.
He asserted that the kingdom seeks to translate the theme of this year’s Arab Deaf Week into the ground, through the solidarity and cooperation of all those concerned with providing rehabilitation, care and social services for the deaf.
The ultimate goal is to open new horizons for people with hearing disabilities so as to carry out projects that are compatible with their capabilities, and be able to contribute to building the homeland.
Source: Bahrain News Agency