MUSCAT: As many as 100 physically challenged will enjoy the fruits of a major initiative called ‘Qaderoon’, a venture collaborated by many ministries and other public and private entities, according to the programme promoters.
A meeting to announce the whereabouts of the project was held under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Fahr bin Fatik al Said and in the presence of senior government officials recently. A work plan was introduced, and the names of those who are eligible for the support announced The second edition of the Qaderoon electronic platform held under the auspices of Sayyid Said bin Sultan al Busaidy, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for Culture recently.
Introduced in 2007 in the region, the project has seen success in numerous Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, before coming to the Sultanate of Oman in 2017.
It is the largest and first platform for people with disabilities in the region and was built at a cost of more than RO 350,000; its market value will be estimated in the coming year at more than 600,000 Omani riyals.
Qaderoon includes 100 sustainable projects for people with disabilities and aims to allocate stores for direct online marketing and sale of all products offered through the platform.
“The Qadroon programme aims to empower and rehabilitate the physically challenged Omanis, will support 100 such people by providing soft skills and enable them with means of survival that help them secure jobs and sustain them,” a representative of the project told the Observer.
Accordingly, the programme will offer sustainable projects to persons with diverse disabilities, which include kinaesthetic, visual, auditory, autistic, intellectually challenged and the like.
Qaderoon project is implemented with the strategic partnership of the Supreme Committee of Justice (SCJ), Royal Court Affairs (RCA), General-Secretariat of National Day Celebrations, Ministry of Education (MoE), Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP), Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth (MoCSY), Dhofar Governor’s Office, Oman Investment Authority (OIA), Ministry of Labour (MoL), Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MoHERI), Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), General Directorate of Traffic, Muscat Municipality, Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), The General-Secretariat of the Majlis Ash'shura, OCCI Dhofar Branch, Khimji Ramdas Institute (Eshraqa), and Al Batinah South Governor Office.
“As of now, 14 projects were handed over to eligible persons with disabilities after they took a qualifying course to manage the same on their own and make a living for the future,” he added.
These projects were distributed in several governorates in the Sultanate of Oman, including Al Batinah North and South, Al Dakhiliyah, Al Dhahirah, and Dhofar. According to the plan, ten projects will be delivered in the near future in Dhofar Governorate.
As a result, various stores in different sectors are currently managed by people with disabilities and contains mobile phone store, perfume store, watch showroom, furniture store and many stores on the electronic platform, thanks to the Qaderoon initiatives. A number of disabled people have been employed in some companies, such as Lulu Hypermarket chain.
“The quality of projects varies according to the environment, the labour market, and the ability and capabilities of people with disabilities, but the most important focus is always on sustainability in these projects,” he added.
According to him, the Qaderoon envisages serving the community and seeks to transform the idea of a merger from a theoretical perspective into a practical application on the ground by educating the community about the importance of persons with disabilities by highlighting their rights to integrate and interact with other members of society.
The ongoing project envisages of establishing a special institution for people with disabilities with sustainable projects, building partnerships, and creating opportunities for the specially-abled to support their projects and provide job opportunities.
The project also aims to integrate community work, partnership, creating opportunities, and empowering the capabilities of the physically challenged to be able to achieve success, in order to derive the results in a phased manner, the project is executed in partnership with the Ministry of Labour as well as 20 other government agencies.
“Eshraqa Institute provides project training, and the curriculum touches upon all areas that aim at empowering people with disabilities in society, training and rehabilitating these people in various fields with the aim of preparing them professionally for the appropriate job and strive to provide them with 250 sustainable project opportunities around the Sultanate of Oman,” said the project representative.
As many as 42,304 people with disabilities in the country have benefited from Qaderoon, the first-of-its-kind project in the Middle East, which began with the employment and training of persons with disabilities in its first edition.
“We are now looking forward to establishing 250 sustainable projects that will be donated to people with disabilities aiming at providing a source of income that secures a decent life for them and works to integrate them into society and contribute to this country’s progress and development,” he added.
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