Tuesday January 9, 2007

By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter

Dubai, UAE - Implementation of the UAE Disability Act has begun, with the setting up of special committees to activate provisions within the law, likely to be in place before April.

The act, or Law No. 29/2006, guarantees the rights and protection in health, education, work and entrepreneurship and public services for physically challenged people.

It was signed into effect by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan last month.

Abdullah Al Suwaidi, undersecretary in the Ministry of Social Affairs, said he has sent the requirements to the different ministries and government responsible for each section.

"Now we need the committees to take forward the provisions within the ministries and government agencies. The committees should be activated within the first quarter of the year," he said.

Speaking to Gulf News after attending the Arab Decade of Disabled Persons 2004 to 2013 round-table discussion, organised by Takamul, he added that the committees would be in charge of setting up the 'tools of law' that would most effectively achieve the objectives contained within the act.

"For example, the Ministry of Public Works will come up with standards for access," he said.

Other than setting up standardised building codes, the Disability Act also provides the disabled with job quotas in the public and private sectors, anti-discrimination penalties in schools and special retirement considerations.

Al Suwaidi said that the ministry has not set up a time frame for the full implementation of the law. "We will only know the schedule after the UAE ratifies the UN Convention on the Rights of the Disabled in March," he said.

There are an estimated 5,500 disabled people in the UAE, with 3,000 special needs children attending 32 centres.

Developmental disorders, such as Down's Syndrome, constitute the majority with 64 per cent, while 12 per cent are autistic and 8 per cent are hearing-impaired, according to Ministry of Social Affairs statistics.