Qatar gives increasing importance to people with disabilities of all categories, especially those with autism, HE the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs Dr Issa bin Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi and HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali said on Thursday.
They were speaking on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of Qatar Autism Families Association (Qafa).
HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani attended the event held under the slogan ‘Together We Make Difference’.
“There are directives to provide the needed support to all the activities and events meant to integrate into the society persons with disabilities, especially those with autism, and to raise awareness of their potential and abilities,” al-Nuaimi and al-Ali said.
Dr al-Nuaimi said there is direct guidance from the Prime Minister on the need to take into account persons with disabilities, and overcome all the difficulties before them and provide support to them.
He praised the role played by Qafa in integrating persons with disabilities in the society and raising awareness about their capabilities by extending help and support to them and their families.
Dr al-Nuaimi reiterated the Ministry's full support to Qafa in all its activities to elevate the level of services offered to the beneficiaries.
“All the sport facilities in Qatar are designed to accommodate persons with disabilities,” al-Ali said, adding that the Ministry of Culture and Sports has started to allocate comprehensive sport facilities for the disabled, and to provide specialised trainers and the latest equipment. 
The Ministry is also developing a number of establishments in Qatar Club and Al Ahli Club to accommodate larger number of persons with disabilities.
The minister said there was great co-operation between the Ministry and the Qatar Olympic Committee to provide all sorts of support to prepare Olympian athletes and increase their number and participation in international competitions.
Qafa chairperson Fatima al-Shaheen al-Sulaiti highlighted the importance of co-operation between different governmental entities and centres for people with disabilities, especially autism, to improve their lives.
“An autistic child needs support from different entities, in addition to the pivotal role of the family,” she said.
The Qafa official called on ministries and governmental entities to promote areas of assistance in the field of specialised services on educational, health and rehabilitation levels through increasing channels of dialogue and systematic work teams.
At the event, the Prime Minister honoured HE Dr al-Nuaimi, al-Ali and HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti for their contributions and support to the activities of Qafa.
Qafa was launched in 2015 to raise awareness, provide mutual support among its members and build and strengthen an interactive network of families, experts, specialists, institutions and entities capable of providing various services to the families of people with autism.
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