Staff Reporter/Doha


The Qatar Ministry of Interior (MoI) has won Arab Organisation for Social Responsibility (AOSR) award for its ‘Emergency Service for the Deaf’. According to a communique, the ministry bagged the ‘Golden Excellence Shield for Smart Services’ along with the ‘Certificate of Patent’ for its smart emergency service for the deaf people.
The Organisation described this particular service of the ministry as the ‘highest and top smart service’ in the field of social responsibility.
Reacting to the honour, Director General of Civil Defence and head of National Command Centre (NCC) Brigadier Abdulla Mohamed al-Suwaidi said the achievement highlighted the success of the ministry in communicating with all segments of the society, including those with special needs, especially the deaf.
“This service has helped the deaf to communicate on their own with the emergency service of the ministry whenever they face any kind of unexpected situation and to report us in detail about the incident,” said Brig al-Suwaidi who added that it would help the department to extend required humanitarian service and respond immediately to deal with the situation as soon as possible.
Brigadier al-Suwaidi said the ministry has given enough care for the deaf and launched many services to complete the transactions and services required by this segment without any difficulty. The Emergency Service for the Deaf was inaugurated by HE the Minister of State for Interior Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani after completing a comprehensive study and research about the project.
The Ministry of Interior launched emergency services through hotline 992 on September 17, 2012 as part of implementing its strategy and future plans.
The emergency service is one of those services launched by the ministry that is expected to help more than 500 persons with hearing disability as the first service of its kind in the Middle East. The service is provided through the 3G facility where the deaf can interact with the trained persons in the sign language. The beneficiaries can avail the facility in three ways, namely 3G video call, SMS service and by e-mail to [email protected].
The AOSR has launched Golden Excellence Award to honour personalities from the public and private sectors in each member state of the Arab League, who are working in areas of social responsibility. The ministry has received the award for its “outstanding” initiative in providing its emergency service to people with special needs, in particular the deaf.