UAE mission to UN promotes interests of those with disabilities

The mission attended a New York event on inclusion practices in the UAE staged in partnership with the Pineda Foundation for Youth / World Enabled, a non-profit group.

The rights of the disabled are championed in the UAE Constitution that promotes a policy of inclusion. Delores Johnson / The National

ABU DHABI // The UAE Permanent Mission to the United Nations organised a series of events last week to promote the interests of those with disabilities and highlight the country’s policies on inclusion.

The mission attended the New York event Delivering Inclusion: Innovations in Local Practice from the UAE and the Broader Region, staged in partnership with the Pineda Foundation for Youth / World Enabled, a US non-profit group.

Dr Victor Santiago Pineda, president of the Pineda Foundation and the event’s moderator, commended the UAE’s efforts in moving from social care to development.

The UAE team included Dr Salem Al Shafei, director of policies and programmes for the rights of people with disabilities at the Dubai Executive Council, and Mariam Al Qubaisi, head of special needs at the Zayed Higher Organisation for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs.

Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE permanent representative to the UN, opened the event by outlining the country’s efforts to promote inclusion and the participation of those with disabilities in public life at the national and international levels.

She cited the UAE Constitution, supplemented by Federal Law No 29 of 2006, as an important legal instrument in championing the rights of the disabled.

At the international level, Ms Nusseibeh noted that the UAE signed the UN Convention of Rights for People with Disabilities in 2008 and ratified it two years later. The agreement sets forth simple principles that advance human dignity, economic justice and social development, she said, but noted there have been challenges.

“In order to resolve them, we have been working with the Pineda Foundation to research our national responses and design effective policies and programmes.”

On the same day, the UAE mission to the UN also co-sponsored an event focusing on Arab youth with disabilities and opportunities for empowerment, with case studies on employment and accessibility.

The event was held in conjunction with the missions of Palestine and Egypt.

Wafa bin Sulaiman, manager of the special needs department at the Ministry of Social Affairs, delivered the UAE’s national statement, highlighting the important opportunity the conference provided to direct global attention to the issue of people with disabilities, who constitute 15 per cent of the world’s population.

She offered several examples of the country’s inclusion policies such as the UAE Vision 2021, Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 and Dubai Strategic Plan 2021.

On Thursday, the UAE also co-sponsored an event on the conference sidelines on accessible and inclusive urban development.