DOHA: The Shura Council has held its regular weekly session, chaired by Speaker of the Council HE Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim.
At the beginning of the session, Al Ghanim praised the directives of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani aimed at consolidating the principle of justice and the rule of law, and enhancing the values of equal citizenship and national unity, in order to achieve the supreme interest of the country.
He stressed that the constitutional amendments that will be put to a public referendum on Tuesdayrepresent a historic step that aims to strengthen these principles and contribute to enhancing the comprehensive development process, ensuring the achievement of more stability and progress for the State of Qatar.
In this context, he called on all citizens to exercise their national right to participate in the referendum and express their opinion with full responsibility and awareness.
He stressed that this participation is not only a national duty, but also an effective contribution to shaping the country's future and affirming the spirit of belonging and loyalty, pointing out that contributing at such important moments consolidates the principle of partnership in decision-making, which enhances the position of the State of Qatar and achieves the aspirations of citizens towards a bright future under the leadership of HH the Amir of the country.
Then, Secretary-General of the Shura Council HE Nayef bin Mohammed Al Mahmoud read the agenda of the session, and the minutes of the previous session were approved.
During the session, the Council reviewed the request for a general discussion submitted by a number ofmembers, regarding the conditions of people with disabilities.
Within this framework, Al Ghanim noted the great attention that the country pays, in accordance with the directives of its wise leadership, to persons with disabilities, by providing them with support and allocating the necessary financial resources for this purpose, and enacting laws regulating their rights, including Law No. (2) of 2004 regarding persons with special needs, in addition to its initiative to ratify international agreements that affirm the rights of persons with disabilities and provide them with the necessary services.
He pointed out that despite the great efforts and continuous support, persons with disabilities still face some challenges that require more attention. He stressed that the most prominent of these challenges is enhancing ways to fully integrate into society and the labor market, and providing environments that are comprehensively prepared to meet their needs. He also pointed out the importance of intensifying efforts to raise community awareness of disability issues and the role of society in supporting persons with disabilities, to ensure the achievement of equality and integration more broadly.
For their part, the Council members noted the country’s interest, in accordance with the directives of the wise leadership, in the rights of persons with disabilities, including ensuring that all ministries meet the requirements of persons with disabilities from a legislative and executive perspective, and provide educational opportunities for them, by opening private schools that provide them with educational services, whether specialized, or schools that provide integration programs.
Members of the Shura Council pointed out that there are still challenges facing persons with disabilities, including those related to education, such as high tuition fees, and the inability of schools to provide all support services, or those related to providing training and rehabilitation opportunities, such as the lack of centers or institutions in the country that specialize in training and rehabilitating persons with mental disabilities and autism disorder, who are graduates of schools and centers and who were unable to complete their university studies, so that they can be prepared for the labor market.
The Shura Council members pointed out that the lack of coordination between official bodies has led to a number of challenges facing persons with disabilities, including their and their families’ lack of knowledge of all their rights and the services provided to them, the lack of a unified specialized database for persons with disabilities, the lack of government training and rehabilitation centers for those who were unable to enroll in education at the age of compulsory education, and the lack of a vocational technical college for secondary school graduates.
The Council members addressed the challenges facing people with disabilities in the labour market, noting the state’s commitment to providing them with job opportunities at a rate of no less than 2 percent of the total public jobs, pointing out in the same context to the challenges they face in this regard, including the lack of a unified database to facilitate the automatic transfer of their data to the competent authorities, the absence of a mechanism for applying for jobs that prevents them from applying through traditional methods due to the challenges they face in this regard, and the lack of training opportunities before employment, which leads to the emergence of a number of problems when they practice work.
After discussions that were characterised by keenness to find solutions to the challenges facing persons with disabilities and address the obstacles that prevent their integration into society, the Council decided to refer the request for a general discussion to the Social Affairs, Labour and Housing Committee to study it and submit its report on it to it.
The session continued as the Council reviewed a draft law amending some provisions of Law No. (16) of 2018 regulating the ownership and use of real estate by non-Qataris, referred to it by the esteemed government, and decided to refer it to the Health, Public Services and Environment Affairs Committee to study it and submit its report on it to it.
The Council also reviewed the esteemed government’s response to the Council’s desire to regulate private schools, and referred it to the Education, Culture, Sports and Media Affairs Committee to study it and provide it with its conclusions regarding it.
During the session, the Shura Council approved a number of draft executive decisions of the Council for the provisions of the Shura Council’s internal regulations issued by Law No. (8) of 2024, after discussing them and exchanging views on them.
On the other hand, the Speaker of the Shura Council briefed the members of the Council on his meeting withPrime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam HEPham Minh Chinh, last Thursday, indicating that the meeting reviewed the bilateral relations between Qatar and Vietnam and ways to support and develop them, especially in the parliamentary field, in addition to discussing a number of issues of common interest.
The session was attended by a number of members of the centers and associations concerned with people with disabilities in the country.