KUWAIT: The Municipal Council held a special session on Monday to identify the key challenges faced by people with disabilities and work towards finding appropriate solutions. The session brought together various government entities, including the Ministries of Education, Health, and Public Works, as well as the Public Authority for Disability Affairs and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, to collaborate on improving services for people with disabilities, KUNA reported. Officials heard directly from people with disabilities and their families, discussing ways to create a safer and more accessible environment for them.
Participants also explored ways to facilitate the use of digital applications for people with disabilities, alongside representatives from official bodies, NGOs, and civil society institutions. The session was organized in collaboration with the Kuwaiti Association for the Follow-up on Issues of the Disabled and the Disability Committee of the Municipal Council.
Chairman of the Kuwait Municipal Council, Abdullah Al-Mehri, highlighted some of the council’s initiatives aimed at making Kuwait more accessible. The most significant of these is the "Kuwait Accessibility Code,” which was officially launched in July 2024. The code is designed to ensure the implementation of engineering standards that create an accessible environment for all individuals, regardless of age, ability, or disability. He also mentioned ongoing efforts to introduce a law that would "strengthen the rights” of people with disabilities, though he did not specify the details of the law.
In a statement to KUNA, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Human Rights, Ambassador Sheikha Jawaher Ibrahim Duaij Al-Sabah, reaffirmed Kuwait’s strong commitment to enhancing the rights of people with disabilities. This is in line with the "New Kuwait Vision 2035,” the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, and the government’s program for 2024-2027. She praised the use of technological advancements to serve people with disabilities and emphasized the importance of fostering an environment that supports their integration into society.
President of the Kuwaiti Association for the Follow-up on Issues of the Disabled, Suad Al-Fares, emphasized the association’s role in monitoring and following up on the decisions made by the Municipal Council’s Disability Committee. The association works closely with relevant authorities to ensure that buildings across both the public and private sectors are designed to be disability-friendly. Al-Fares stressed the importance of harnessing technology to improve the lives of people with disabilities and supporting their integration into the workforce and educational systems to enhance their active participation in society.