Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior stressed that His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi has always extended care to the citizens of this country particularly the ones with special needs. HH noted that this care comes as a result of HH President of the UAE belief that the nation’s civilization must have common pillars and must be built with the participation of all citizens and categories of the community with no exceptions.
HH said in a statement on Tuesday evening at the sidelines of the opening of the Abu Dhabi International Conference on Special Needs (Access Abu Dhabi 2013) held at the police officers’ club in Abu Dhabi: “with the commence of this conference under the title Towards a ‘Community Participation to Promote Integration’, we call upon all community institutions to double their care extended to individuals with special needs, and to work to benefit from their capabilities and enthusiasm to work and produce. This comes from the belief that disability does not hinder creativity.”
He added: “we highly appreciate the keenness shown by the Zayed Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs to achieve its noble goals through extending attention to citizens with disabilities and sponsor this conference annually. This contributes to raising the level of awareness and knowledge about challenges and obstacles faced by this category of citizens, through the participation of specialists and entities that are interested in matters of special education and affairs related to disabilities with the aim to learn more about the results of latest scientific and intellectual researches that are specialized in this field.”
HH seized the opportunity to call upon citizens with special needs to continue their distinguished work, especially in the light of the success of their counterparts who graduated from the Ministry of Interior’s centers for employment and rehabilitation, who proved their production capabilities and excellence in the working and innovating sectors with their healthy counterparts.
The ceremony began with the national anthem performed by a group of individuals from Zayed Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs in sign language, followed by a recitation from the Holy Quran. The ceremony was attended by Lt. General Saif Abdullah Al Sha’far, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior; Major General Staff Obeid Al Hiri Salim Al Kutbi, deputy commander-in-chief of Abu Dhabi Police; and Major General Khalifa Hareb Al Khaili, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior for Resources and Support Services, alongside a number of directors in the Ministry of Interior and the Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters.
Mohammed Mohammed Fadel Al Hamli, Vice Chairman and the Secretary General of the Zayed Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs delivered a speech in which he welcomed the audience. He explained that the Organization is keen to organize the event as part of its strategy to raise public awareness of issues related to its categories of individuals, support its educational and rehabilitative operations and review the best global practices to serve its sons and daughters of these categories. This comes in implementation of the higher leadership vision in providing all means of care for all citizens despite their categories and races within one harmonious and coherent community fabric, and in line with clear and advanced developmental programs and plans to reach to satisfactory goals to all those living in the UAE society.
He added that providing a decent life to the UAE citizen has always been a priority to our higher leadership de