Differently-abled Omanis become self-employed via Qaderoon platform

MUSCAT: In order to empower people with disabilities, the Ministry of Labour, in cooperation with ASAAS Muscat, organised yesterday a ceremony to celebrate the successful handover of sustainable projects, as well as the presentation of scholarships to self-employed Omanis with special needs. Organised as part of the ‘Qaderoon programme, the event, titled ‘How Much Can We Do’, was held under the auspices of Shaikh Issa bin Hamad al Azri, Secretary General of the Supreme Judicial Council.

Sayyid Salim bin Musallam al Busaidy, Under-Secretary of Ministry of Labour for Human Resources Development, said "The forum represents a quantum leap due to its interest in an important segment of society (people with disabilities).”

“Among the qualitative projects organised by ASAAS in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and supporting partners from the government and private sectors, the goal is to launch an electronic shopping platform and establish about 225 sustainable projects. Today, the first phase saw the delivery of 14 projects for disabled people, and the goal is to support a total of 100 individuals this year,” he added.

The Qaderoon e-platform was launched in August 2022, which includes 100 sustainable projects for people with disabilities, and aims to allocate stores for direct e-marketing and selling for all products offered through the platform.

Around 120 projects are targeted for delivery in the next stage of the programme. They include service projects located near government offices and designed to cater to the needs of all segments of society. Beneficiaries of these projects will also receive the requisite equipment and aids to facilitate their movement and work.

The first forum for Qaderoon was implemented in 2019 under the official auspices of the erstwhile Ministry of Civil Service in that period, and a number of people with disabilities were employed in private sector institutions, in addition to providing some scholarships and training opportunities.

The ceremony was accompanied by an exhibition to showcase the handicrafts of the category of persons with disabilities, as well as inspiring videos of people with disabilities.