Dubai: The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) on Tuesday expressed its commitment to support people with disabilities by giving them priority in services and giving its staff support and care.
Dewa on Tuesday held its first Annual Conference for People with Disabilities (PWDs) to support the Dubai Government’s vision for a more inclusive society and make Dubai a fully disability-friendly city by 2020 through the ‘My Community ... A City for Everyone’ Initiative.
With the theme ‘Inspiring Stories and Challenges’, the conference aimed to motivate attendees to break common stereotypes about people with disabilities and help society become inclusive.
Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa, attended the conference along with Ahmad Abdul Karim Mohammad Julfar, director-general of Community Development Authority, and other senior officials.
“Dewa is committed to enhancing the social empowerment of people with disabilities by providing them with a competent and flexible environment that enables them to unlock their potential and prove their capabilities, while helping them fully integrate into society,” Al Tayer said.
Al Tayer said Dewa has several strategies and initiatives that cater to PWDs. Its Ash’ir initiative (Arabic for ‘communicate using non-verbals’) that has been in place since 2014 continues to enable people with hearing impairment to communicate directly with Dewa’s call centre staff through instant visual communication technologies.
Dewa also has the Absher initiative (Arabic for ‘To give good news’) that supports and cares for its staff with disabilities and the Omniyati initiative (Arabic for ‘My Wish’) which fulfilled the wishes of 10 of its staff with disabilities.
Al Tayer said Dewa currently has 16 employees who are PWDs and it will recruit more in the future.
Dewa clients who are Sanad cardholders, which give them exclusive privileges in the city, are provided with valet parking at all Dewa branches, wheelchair assistance, Mahareb services, and priority to be served.
During the conference, Raul Krauthausen, a known advocate of PWDs’ rights in Germany and speaker at the event, lauded Dubai for being “extremely barrier-free” and looking at disability in a positive light. He spoke about the changes they’ve championed in Germany to make it a more inclusive society.
Majid Al Usaimi, executive director of the Dubai Club for the Disabled, shared how he overcame challenges while growing up.
“You will come to a point where you will make a decision where you don’t want to be beaten or laughed at anymore, that this wheelchair is not limiting me and that I can do many more things people not in wheelchairs can do,” Al Usaimi said.
