Observer Report
Conakry
The Guinean capital, Conakry, hosted a two-day workshop on integration and empowerment of persons with disabilities. Jointly organized by the OIC General Secretariat and the Guinean Ministry of Social Work and Empowerment of Women and Children, the workshop had in attendance many experts on integration and empowerment of persons with disabilities in the OIC member states.
Director General of the OIC General Secretariat’s Department of Social, Cultural and Family Affairs, Mrs. Mehla Ahmed Talebna, noted in the Secretariat’s address she delivered, that the workshop demonstrated the OIC’s concern for the welfare, safety and protection of people with disabilities in the member states, and held in implementation of relevant ministerial resolutions. Furthermore, she announced that the OIC General Secretariat was in the course of preparing a comprehensive plan for persons with disabilities. This, she said, was to give member states the strategies, mechanisms and the guiding principles to better contribute to ensuring welfare of the less privileged segments of society and social solidarity.
The plan is also aimed at enhancing participation to improve the member states and boost financing opportunities for the various social and medical programmes designed for persons with disabilities. She added that the workshop was also meant to enrich the draft OIC plan and highlight the efforts of its institutions and organs working in this field. The workshop also offered participants an opportunity to share best experiences and review the challenges facing the member states in the social field, particularly those related to persons with disabilities.
