Kuwait attaches great importance to care for persons with disabilities

The State of Kuwait plays a great role in promoting awareness about, and overcoming, the difficulties facing persons with disabilities, a UNDP official said Tuesday. "Kuwait is pioneer among the Arab countries in defending the rights of people with special needs, notably dyslexic students, to education," Acting Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Dima Al-Khateeb affirmed. She made the comments during a celebration, held by UNDP office here, to mark the UN International Day of People with Disabilities which falls today. "Today's celebration is part of the efforts to promote public awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities and enable this segment of the society to have a positive impact on social development," she pointed out. The celebration witnessed the launching the first smart phone application for dyslexic persons. "The application has been developed through the assistance of UNDP experts; it's a free application and easy to access," Al-Khateeb said, noting that the application can help diagnose children with dyslexia at an early age and guide their parents on how to get help inside or outside the country. On his part, Chairman of Kuwait Dyslexia Association (KDA) Mohammad Youssof Al-Qatami said Kuwait has made great strides in caring for persons who face difficulties in learning. "Kuwait has made noticeable achievements exhanging expertise with UNDP and other concerned agencies he fields of diagnosing and treating dyslexic persons, " he pointed out. The UNDP and Kuwait's Supreme Council for Planning and Development maintain fruitful cooperation in such areas as building the capacity of education experts and civil society organizations, and overcoming the learning problems, Al-Qatami went on. One of the fruits of this cooperation was the development of the Iphone application for dyslexics which is an innovative initiative jointly made by the KDA, the UNDP and experts from information technology companies, he added.