UAE to hold 'Arab Deaf Week' events

The UAE will take part in recognising the 44th Arab Deaf Week beginning 20th April, under the theme, 'Recruiting the Deaf is a Community Responsibility'.

Combining its efforts with UAE service providers for the deaf, the Ministry of Community Development, MOCD, announced that it will organise a series of events and initiatives across the week.

Arab Deaf Week was launched in 1974 following the recommendations of the Arab Federation for the Deaf. Since then, government, private and non-profit institutions in the Arab world come together to recognise and support the hearing impaired under a common theme. This year, the Arab Deaf Week, seeks to encourage the recruitment of the hearing impaired across multiple sectors throughout the region.

Commenting on the announcement, Nasser Ismail, MOCD's Assistant Under-Secretary for Community Care, said that Arab Deaf Week aims to ensure the rights of people with hearing impairments across the government and private sectors.

He went on to note that UAE policies and laws are in sync with the Arab Deaf Week theme, highlighting Cabinet Decision No. 43 of 2018 that supports the recruitment of People of Determination. The Cabinet Decision details persons with disabilities should be provided with employment opportunities in the labour market, ensuring that their rights to work are on an equal footing with others.

All authorities are encouraged to provide people of determination with equal employment opportunities across different sectors and assist those who wish to establish their private business.

Ismail said that the ministry will organise a number of activities and events to raise awareness among the UAE community, highlighting the skills and capabilities of the hearing impaired, and their rights as active members of the community, via television and radio programmes, and lectures and seminar targeting parents and individuals who provide support services for the deaf.

The Ministry of Community Development, Ismail explained, has strived to provide safe and healthy working conditions for the individuals with hearing impairments, ensuring their protection from various forms of harassment, non-discrimination at any stage and enable them to continue their job duties as long as they are able to work properly.

The UAE ministry has adopted inclusive employment concepts, via its participation in recruitment exhibitions, encouraging people of determination to apply to vacancies, providing adequate training services, and enabling them to register via an online recruitment platform dedicated for persons with disabilities, opening up a more inclusive work environment within the country.

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