MUSCAT: Her Excellency Dr Laila bint Ahmed al Najar, Minister of Social Development, affirmed that the Oman Vision 2040 sets off from the ground of achievements that were realized over the past decades in various fields representing an integrated framework of the economic and social policies that should be implemented and adopting them as a work methodology in order to actualize the desired goals by the year 2040. In an interview with Oman News Agency (ONA), the minister explained that reinforcing social protection and social responsibility requires organizing the efforts of the concerned institutions and the social responsibility projects and its governance, identifying their principles, managing them effectively, and measuring the outcomes so as to provide advanced social services in a manner that contributes to achieving the sustainable development goals.
Her Excellency, the Minister of Social Development, indicated that the Sultanate pays a great attention to the disabled and is keen to provide them with appropriate services and advanced technologies that help them lead a better life.
The Disabled Care and Rehabilitation Law promulgated by Royal Decree No 63/2008 and the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) form the legal basis that supports the activities of the governmental and non-governmental agencies concerned with the provision of free services for the disabled including rehabilitation services, prosthetic devices and aids, vocational training and other prosthetic devices services.
Speaking about the most notable challenges facing the ministry in the disabled field, the minister said that there are a number of challenges such as the lack of specialized national cadres in the field of disabled care and rehabilitation, the high cost of operating the rehabilitation centers and the reluctance of some parents to register their children at rehabilitation centres as well as the need to develop diagnostic programmes and early intervention services in all governorates of the Sultanate except for Muscat Governorate.
The minister said that the civil society organizations are one of the pillars of development in the Sultanate being an important sector that contributes to all forms of development and that the integration of the three sectors of the state, the government, the private sector, and the civil sector increase the effectiveness of the development process.
The minister explained that the Sultanate’s attention to human rights is not only an international obligation, but also a religious commitment and a national duty that is deeply rooted in our values and our Omani identity. Besides, the Sultanate’s interest in human rights was gradually embodied over the past five decades as the economic, social and cultural rights became a priority after the blessed Renaissance and the attention to human rights, children and women acquired a special importance in the development programmes through building schools, hospitals and roads, and qualifying women to work in different fields. She added that this attention developed in the 199s with the Sultanate’s joining many international conventions and treaties, including Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) ratified by Royal Decree 63/90, and years later came the ratification to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1996, and later the Sultanate joined a number of relevant international conventions pertaining to human rights.
The minister noted that the Ministry of Social Development is keen to realize the goals of Oman Vision 2040 that are related to humans and society, and seeks to achieve the concepts of welfare and social protection in several fields under the ministry’s purview including juvenile care. For this aim, the ministry has set up a specialized department and provided it with specialized staff to provide care to the juveniles, and also seeks to create integrated buildings in one dedicated place for the provision of juvenile care from the stage of collecting evidence until they are sentenced by juvenile courts.
The minister affirmed that the Sultanate has earned international praised and appreciation for its efforts in following up various human rights agreements, including those related to the efforts of the ministry of social development in submitting timely reports on the rights of children, women and the disable, affirming that indicating that there is no international pressure in the field of human rights in general or on the rights of children and women, in particular. She noted that the United Nations has mechanisms to follow up on the implementation of the provisions of the international conventions, agreements and treaties concerned with human rights. — ONA
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
