QFSW’s CEO Amal Abdullatif Al Mannai (second left) and Manar Khalifa Al Muraikhi (right), Director of Community and Public Relations for Ooredoo Qatar, and other officials during the Opening of Media and Disability Forum in Doha yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basi
Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs and Best Buddies Qatar, which are part of Qatar Social Work Foundation (QFSW), hosted Media and Disability Forum to marked International Day of Persons with Disability.
Media and Disability Forum aimed to show generous support and give supportive information strategy for people with disabilities. The event started with the recitation of Holy Quran by a student of Shafallah Center.
During her opening speech, Laalei Abu Alfain, Executive Director of Shafallah Center, said: “It is my pleasure today to celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disability, which is celebrated annually all around the world on December 3, as this celebration represents a great value and an important opportunity to shed light on the issues of people with disability.”
This year, the world celebrated the International Day of Persons with Disability under the title “Empowering Persons with Disability, Ensuring Integration and Equality”.
“The theme of this year’s forum focuses on the empowerment of persons with disability to achieve the comprehensive, equitable and sustainable development, considering that empowerment is as an integral part of 2030 Sustainable Development Plan,” Abu Alfain added.
Talking about the role of Media she said: “The role and influence of the media in last ten years has become one of the most important factors in promoting the development of the State and as a key tool that provides the information and knowledge and affects the society’s attitudes.”
Additionally, it plays an important role in establishing the requirements for change by contributing to awareness-raising and changing stereotypes.
Abu Alfain added, “The issue of media dealing with the concept of disability has become a central issue that the media uses the word and image, which often reflect our way of thinking and vision and influence the society’s perception of an issue.”
Concluding the speech she said: “We hope that this forum will come up with practical recommendations that will outline a media map on new approaches and ways to address the disability issues and persons with disability in the media.”
The forum included panel discussions based on television reports and the problems of media and facts on the treatment of persons with disabilities.
First session of forum was based on “The real picture and its dimensions” which was moderated by Dr. Rabia bin Sabah Al Kuwari and Amal Abdel Malek.
Second session was on Advocacy and Media Influence which was a discussion with Khawla Mortazavi - Media and academic researcher, Dr. Abdel Nasser Fakhro - Assistant Professor, Department of Science Psychological College of Education - University of Qatar. The event featured videos based on the role of the Shafallah Center and Best Buddies Qatar from the people with disabilities.
