Hussain Alwan Al Qaisy is a polio survivor who usescrutches to move around.

For people like Al Qaisy a graphic designer with the Dubai Municipality there will be more reasons to cheer in the new year as Dubai is gearing up to implement more disabled-friendly initiatives in 2016.

And they are having a say in improving their surroundings and workplaces to make life easier for them and eliminating all social economic psychological and physical barriers.

A comprehensive plan to overhaul the initiatives for the people with special needs in the emirate will be ready in six months in preparation to make Dubai a 100 per cent disabled-friendly city by 2020.

This was revealed at a forum for the disabled organised by the Dubai Municipality on Wednesday. The first-of-its-kind forum was held at the launch of a new initiative by the civic body titled "My Will Defies My Disability".

Honouring the champions

Hussain Nasser Lootah Director-General of the Dubai Municipality launched the initiative by appreciating the disabled employees at the municipality and honouring Majid Al Usaimi the president of Asian Paralympic Committee and a champion of disabled-friendly initiatives in the UAE.

A member of the Higher Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Al Usaimi said Dubai is all set to see the implementation of the strategies and plans that have been shaping up for years to catapult the emirate's status to a disability-friendly city as per the Dubai Disability Strategy - 2020.

The aim of the strategy is to create an all-inclusive society by providing essential services to people with disabilities that include life-long learning and education health and rehabilitation social protection employment and universal accessibility. It also aims to provide accessible environment based on globally approved standards and improvements to the infrastructure systems and technologies.

Comprehensive Plan

For implementing the strategy wheelchair-bound polio survivor Al Usaimi said the committee has recently appointed a consultant to conduct an in-depth study to identify requirements in all sectors.

"A draft proposal of the comprehensive plan after the study is expected to be ready in six months" he told reporters.

"This will cover all aspects.from education and health services to accessible environment and employment opportunities."

Lootah said the municipality's new initiative "shows how important they (the disabled employees) are for us.and how much of importance we are giving to support them to make things better for them."

"The municipality has developed entrances to all government facilities in Dubai to facilitate the entry of people with special needs" he told Khaleej Times.

He said the building regulations cover all requirements for the disabled in different types of buildings including shopping malls and schools.

While it is easy for new buildings to comply with the regulations Lootah said the challenges in old buildings will be overcome gradually.

"Old buildings will be changed gradually in the coming years (to make them disabled-friendly)."

Appreciating the paintings and other creative works and achievements by the disabled employees displayed at an exhibition Lootah said: "They are really talented and have a lot of capabilities.with a little bit more help from us we can bring out more from them."

Caring attitude

However Al Qaisy whose paintings were a crowd puller at the exhibition said providing accessibility was not enough at workplace. "It's not just about accessibility. It is just one part of moving about.People around us also need to be more considerate about our challenges."

He recalled how careless attitude of coworkers resulted in him falling twice at his workplace. "I was working on some models for the National Day decorations when some workers at the site negligently put some glue on the floor and I slipped and fell. That was in 2002. I had a similar experience in 2006 and I am still receiving physiotherapy for those injuries."

Boosting confidence

The Director of Public Health and Safety Department Marwan Al Mohammed said the "My Will Defies My Disability" initiative will boost the confidence level among the disabled employees with the municipality.

"From labourers and mechanics to a head of unit we have 51 employees with various types of physical challenges working with different departments. We aim to enhance their self confidence and integrate them into the society in a better way."

At the forum officials sought the feedback from the employees in improving the workplace environment for them.

A total of 52 suggestions have been so far received from the disabled employees and seven out of them have been found to be feasible in developing environmental and community operations the officials said.

Support galore

Al Mohammed said the municipality had started implementing numerous disabled-friendly initiatives since 1989 including the building regulations and disabled-friendly access in parks and other amenities.

Training 17 employees in sign language to deal with hearing-impaired employees and customers conducting 35 workshops and training courses to help the employees with special needs to perform better at work as well as encouraging creative works sports and entertainment activities of the disabled are some other initiatives taken up by the civic body.

The municipality has also made its services more accessible for the people with special needs through its website and mobile application iDubai. It has also been supporting various centres for people with special needs in Dubai.

Sajila Saseendran