Minister of Social Development Opens Career Exhibition to Empower Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Autism

Doha: HE Minister of Social Development and Family (MSDF) Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad has inaugurated the first edition of the career day for persons with intellectual disabilities and autism, in the presence of HE Minister of Labor Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al Marri. Organized by the MSDF's Shafallah Center for Persons with Disabilities, the career day is a firs-of-its-kind exhibition that empowers persons with disabilities (PWDs) and draws supporters and partners to get familiarized with the abilities of PWDs and autism, along the services the center provides to help them include in the society through offering job opportunities that best suit their talents. Accompanied by the acting director of Civil Service and Government Development Bureau (CGB) Saif bin Ali Al Kaabi, HE the Minister of Social Development and Family, alongside HE the Minister of Labor toured several corners of the expo that chiefly showcase the most important professions on which the center's affiliates had been trained. In addition , Her Excellency toured a special corner for coffee making run by several of the center's affiliates and was briefed on an overall workshop for Shafallah grocery, where affiliates produce many products and sell them out, in addition to the center's operation in the production line of Qatar Airways, Al Meera and Mahaseel sell products. Also, Her Excellency toured the cooking workshop offered by the center's affiliates and is supervised by chef Nouf Al Marri. Executive Director of the Shafallah Center Maryam Saif Al Suwaidi said the organization of the career day for persons with intellectual disabilities and autism primarily intends to broaden the horizons of shared collaboration through a whole-of-government approach and invite HR managers and recruitment personnel operating in a variety of sectors nationwide to visit Shafallah Center and get familiarized with the abilities of PWDs and autism in a concrete environment to open new training tracks and ensure provision of production lines and an environment con ducive that help them receive suitable jobs in diverse sectors, in addition to promoting the awareness of employers and recruitment staff on how to deal with PWDs in workplaces. Al Suwaidi affirmed that employing PWDs in the state institutions helps achieve their self-independence and inclusion in the society and ultimately make them capable of eliminating all encountered obstacles, in addition to enjoying better life, pointing out that the center gives foremost priority to provide career training services, in recognition of the importance of honing the PWDs' skills and advancing their professional capabilities so as to assist them in obtaining appropriate job opportunities in the future that achieve their self-independence. Additionally, Al Suwaidi commended the unwavering support the center receives from the MSDF so as to empower the persons with intellectual disabilities and autism in multiple public and private sectors. She declared that the center has launched the first edition of the guide to employ p ersons with intellectual disabilities and autism, as a first-of-its-kind document in the State of Qatar and abroad, affirming that the guide clarifies the notions of empowering them, in terms of legal and legislative aspects, along with the professions that best suit them and adapting workplaces to their special needs. The simplified guide is a reference that helps public and private enterprises fathom out the PWDs' capabilities and the guidelines during the recruitment process, starting from the job description, personal interview and the potential behaviors that could happen in workplaces and ways to manage them. Al Suwaidi highlighted that Shafallah center operates in a multi-faceted training approach at the recruitment unit which chiefly includes reception, stores and library positioning as a mini workplace that is closer to the practical reality, where targeted segments are trained on professional assignments based on the state-funded jobs that best suit their capabilities. Furthermore, Al Suwaidi assert ed that the State of Qatar launched the third National Development Strategy that offered opportunities to all relevant parties that desire to engage in advancing the homeland and get benefits accordingly, including all disabled people who should get the foremost priority, she said, highlighting that the strategy classifies the social segments that should get the primary care to ensure that they perform instrumental role together in building the economy. For her part, Assistant Undersecretary for National Manpower Affairs at the Ministry of Labor (MoL) Shaikha Abdulrahman Al Badi underscored that MoL is committed to empowering PWDs professionally and ensuring appropriate jobs for them to build their self-independence and be included in the labor market both in the public and private enterprises. Al Badi pointed out that the third National Development Strategy strives to increase the proportion of Qataris out of the total manpower broth in the private and joint sectors. She underscored the importance of profess ional expos in helping students and job-seekers internalize the nature of labor market and explore the potential jobs for them, affirming that the career day represents an opportunity for participants to be aware of the abilities of persons with intellectual disabilities and autism, along with the service afforded by the center to further include them in the society and find best jobs for them. Source: Qatar News Agency