Doha, November 20 (QNA) - Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has inaugurated a health center for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and is operating it in the city of Garowe, Puntland region of Somalia. The new center serves 2,250 persons with special needs, with QR 1,168,475 funding from the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs' General Department of Endowments (AWQAF).
Among the activities of the project are furnishing the medical clinic, offices, and physiotherapy unit, organizing training courses for doctors and technicians about medical equipment, operating the center by specialist doctors, providing operational budget and medical resources for one year, furnishing the PWD vocational training department, and building the administrative capacity of staff.
The opening ceremony was attended by Director of Relief and International Development Division at QRCS, Dr Mohamed Salah Ibrahim during which he presented the stages of implementing this project and the services it provides to contribute to empowering individuals with disabilities in the mentioned region. He highlighted the role of the local community, including its institutions and individuals, in the success of such qualitative developmental projects. In this context, an advocacy workshop for people with disabilities was conducted in partnership with various segments of the community.
He mentioned that according to statistics according to statistics of the Somali Disability Network, there are more than 14,000 PWDs in Puntland alone. Therefore, the QRCS is determined to ensure the continuity and expansion of such projects in subsequent stages to cover a larger number of this priority category, which requires support and humanitarian interventions. (QNA)