Muscat: The second edition of the Private Rehabilitation Centres Forum kicked off today at the National Autism Centre in Muscat Governorate. The forum is organised by the Ministry of Social Development, represented by the General Directorate of Persons with Disabilities. The forum was launched under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmed Al Shamsi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Development.
The forum aims to enhance cooperation and partnership between the Ministry of Social Development and private rehabilitation centers and enhance the rehabilitation services provided to them, in addition to providing the best services to beneficiaries of rehabilitation centers, reviewing developments and challenges, and working to improve development policies, while emphasizing the partnership between the Ministry and the centers to achieve sustainable development in this field, in addition to exchanging experiences between local institutions in this field.
Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Mahrouqi, Director General of the General Directorate of Persons with Disabilities at the Ministry of Social Development, said: Holding the second forum comes in light of the government’s interest in persons with disabilities and improving the services provided to them, noting that many policies have been adopted to rehabilitate and develop persons with disabilities in all centers in various governorates.
He explained that the Ministry of Social Development worked to improve services through several sectors, as the Al-Wafa and Rehabilitation Centers for Persons with Disabilities were provided with a number of specialists exceeding 400 specialists in the fields of physical therapy, speech therapy and special education.
The launch of the forum included the presentation of four working papers, the first on “Developmental Policies in the Disability Sector”, presented by Ali bin Salem Al Jabri, Director of the Rehabilitation and Quality Programs Department at the General Directorate of Persons with Disabilities, and the second reviewed “Facilities and Services Provided to Persons with Disabilities”, presented by Moza bint Salem Al Ghafri, Sign Language Interpreter at the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities at the Ministry of Social Development, and Mohammed bin Rashid Al Shabibi, Technical Empowerment Specialist.
The third working paper dealt with “Mechanisms and Procedures of the Licensing Review Department”, presented by Mazna bint Salem Al Rahbi, Labor Inspector at the Licensing Review Department at the Ministry of Labor, while the last paper reviewed “Financial Aspects Related to Private Rehabilitation Centers”, presented by Abdul Salam bin Rashid Al Rubaani, Financial Auditor at the Internal Audit Department at the Ministry of Social Development.
The forum also witnessed the presentation of visual presentations on the stages of development and spread of private rehabilitation centers, and their effective partnership with the Ministry of Social Development, and the “Platform for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities.”
