RIYADH: The King Salman Center for Disability Research (KSCDR) has provided services to 3 million elderly or disabled people — approximately 10 percent of the Kingdom’s population — over the last decade, according to Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the KSCDR’s board of trustees.
Prince Sultan made his statement on Tuesday following a press conference to announce the fifth International Conference for Disability and Rehabilitation, which will take place in Riyadh in April 2018.
“We are in the country of the Two Holy Mosques and Islam is the first to be aware of the issue of disability and its causes, and the rights of disabled people,” he said.
He explained that the center sees disability research as a process owned by the Kingdom’s citizens, not just an organizational process between various ministries and institutions. He stressed the need for citizens to understand the meaning of universal access and its importance to people with disabilities.
Prince Sultan added that a supervisory committee is already in place to ensure that all necessary measures are taken to implement universal access in the Kingdom.
He added that the KSCDR has signed more than 35 agreements and memoranda of cooperation with a number of governmental and private institutions to implement the program.