On the occasion of the Arab Deaf Week.. The Ministry of Social Development: Harnessing all national efforts to integrate people with hearing disabilities into society

19-04-2023

The Kingdom of Bahrain participates with the Arab community in the annual celebration of the 48th Arab Deaf Week under the slogan "The importance of modern technologies in educating and raising the level of deaf culture", which falls on the last week of April of each year, with the aim of spreading awareness of the importance of sign language to contribute to the integration of the deaf community into their societies, as well as introducing society to the reality of the deaf, especially children among them, and helping people with hearing disabilities to learn, rehabilitate, and integrate educationally, socially and economically. On this occasion, His Excellency Mr. Osama bin Ahmed Khalaf Al-Asfoor, Minister of Social Development, stressed that people with hearing disabilities enjoy great follow-up and attention by all concerned parties in this category, within the framework of governmental and societal keenness to make this week an annual occasion to highlight the rights of people with hearing disabilities and speech difficulties, and the nature of the challenges they face, and to enhance all means of support, rehabilitation and empowerment for them, in a way that contributes to enhancing their active and positive role in the process of comprehensive and sustainable social and economic development, noting in this context the importance of Harnessing technologies to remove the obstacles they face and building bridges of communication with them, through community partnership, allowing 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. And as a translation of what was stated in the general principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which emphasized the right to participate in cultural, social, educational life and recreational activities, the Ministry of Social Development is constantly working to enhance the services and programs provided to this group, which was able to challenge the world of silence to enter the world of public life, to prove that disability did not prevent the manifestation of these energies and the positive contribution to the development and advancement of society. The Ministry has also sought to achieve a quantum leap in the services it provides to the deaf, through the Sheikhan Al-Farsi Center for Comprehensive Communication, which is a center specialized in rehabilitating and educating people with hearing disabilities and enabling them to complete and develop basic educational competencies in the early stages in a way that facilitates the process of integrating them into the ranks of the Ministry of Education later, in preparation for their total and comprehensive integration into a healthy study environment, as a civilized step that made the Kingdom of Bahrain among the countries with pioneering and successful experiences in the actual inclusion of people with disabilities. In addition, the Care, Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities Law has contributed to supporting persons with disabilities, including those with hearing disabilities, to live an independent life, by disbursing a monthly allowance from which more than 2,200 persons with hearing disabilities have benefited. The Ministry has also taken it upon itself to provide hearing aids for citizens with disabilities who meet the conditions and criteria for entitlement according to the decisions of the competent committee to decide on requests for disbursement of prosthetic devices, as well as providing a free training service to obtain a driver's license in partnership with the General Traffic Department. Based on the community partnership, the Ministry has striven to cooperate with various public and private bodies and civil organizations working in the field of disability through the implementation of a package of various services and programs, with the aim of expanding the scope of rehabilitation services provided to this group, and ensuring that persons with disabilities, including those with hearing disabilities, obtain their full rights to education, rehabilitation and training, as well as adapting the environment around them to more suit their abilities and needs. The Kingdom of Bahrain seeks to translate the slogan of the Arab Deaf Week into a tangible reality, through the solidarity and cooperation of all those concerned with providing rehabilitation, care and social services for the deaf, and through keenness to open new horizons for them, support them to carry out projects that are compatible with their capabilities and capabilities, and work to involve them in existing projects, so that they can continue their journey in life, and contribute to building their country, especially since they have great capabilities and energies that can be used in various fields and sectors of work and production.