Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Founder of Qatar Foundation for Social Work (QFSW), has called for global collaboration to empower people with disabilities and end discrimination against them.
While speaking at the Doha International Conference on Disability and Development (DICDD), which got underway at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) yesterday, Sheikha Moza said, "The time has come for everyone to perform their duty. The time has come to put an end to this kind of blind discrimination."
"We must collaborate globally to devise mechanisms to stop the waste in resources caused by the lack of investment and empowerment for people with disabilities and enable them to play active roles in the development of society," she said.
"We can achieve this through meaningful employment of this large number that has been marginalized for the sake of disability, especially those talented among them," HH added.
She highlighted that there are 1.5 billion people with disabilities around the world, and the numbers point to the unacceptable level of negligence that has been shown toward those people.
HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Founder of Qatar Foundation for Social Work, attended the opening of the inaugural Doha International Conference on Disability and Development held under the theme "Leaving no one behind", at Qatar National Convention Center. #QNA pic.twitter.com/hPLTZTbQzL
— Qatar News Agency (@QNAEnglish) December 7, 2019
"When we look at developing countries, they contain more than 80 percent of the total number of people with disabilities in the world. In the Arab world, it is estimated that there are 40 million people with disabilities, more than half of them are children and teenagers, due to the effects of wars and conflicts, as we have seen in Iraq since 1980 and Syria, Libya and Yemen since 2011," she mentioned.
Her Highness Sheikha Moza said every human has some form of disability, albeit of different kinds and at different stages. "But there should be no difference between one person and another, based on their level of disability."
Sheikha Moza emphasized how stereotypes and misconceptions, perpetuated by a prevalent social culture and mentality, shape current and past understandings of disability, often overlooking non-psychical and non-medical types of disabilities.
"If our concept of disability is based on visible disability and ignores hidden disability, then doesn’t the illiterate suffer from an educational disability? Is ignorance not an intellectual disability? Isn’t there also such a concept as political disability? And isn’t the violation and assault against others a moral disability?" she asked.
"I also believe distinguishing people apart based on the definition of disability implicates a form of discrimination. Sometimes, I even feel that the exceptions we make for people with disabilities, with the intention of showing sympathy toward them, do more harm than good," Sheikha Moza noted.
She further said that while Qatar is one of the most supportive countries for people with disabilities, the country is looking to see more support in promoting education and employment opportunities.
HH Sheikha Moza toured the exhibition set up for conference to highlight the successes achieved by persons with disabilities and showcase a number of local initiatives, projects and assistive technologies in this field. #QNA pic.twitter.com/SYBDbRLb5d
— Qatar News Agency (@QNAEnglish) December 7, 2019
"We are now more optimistic after what we have seen the country’s decision-makers pledge, and, from our side, we share this commitment," she added.
United Nations (UN) Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and a number of sheiks and ministers and specialists attended the opening of the conference.
Sheikha Moza then toured the exhibition set up for the conference to highlight the successes achieved by persons with disabilities.
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