HE Dr. Bushra Al Mulla, Executive Director of the Community Development Sector at the Department of Community Development -Abu Dhabi, said: The World Down Syndrome Day is a global occasion through which we enhance our efforts to support people of determination with Down Syndrome and integrate them into our community. We always seek to create an appropriate and inclusive environment in which people with Down syndrome enjoy rights, care, and protection and invest their capacities to become an active player in the community development and growth.
Al Mulla outlined that the World Down Syndrome Day for this year, observed under the slogan "Always Connected", reflects the great role of institutions and individuals in finding new ways of communication to ensure that people of determination with Down syndrome can communicate and participate on an equal footing with others, particularly in view of the challenges associated with COVID-19 pandemic. She also noted that Down Syndrome World Day is an opportunity to provide further initiatives and projects that ensure their rights as an important, interactive and integral part of all communities. A world day is an invitation for everyone to work continuously and permanently to enable them to develop their unlimited capacities to integrate in the community.
"The UAE has been founded by our late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The UAE is based on promoting the concept of humanity with all segments of society. Our wise leadership is an excellent successor to an excellent predecessor, as it has been transformed from a culture to a way of life, hence setting the greatest practical examples of giving and extending help and support, without consideration to gender, race, colour or religion", she added.
We, at the Department of Community Development, are guided by the vision and insights of our wise leadership by providing the necessary attention, care, action plans and effective implementation mechanisms for people of determination. We have developed and launched Abu Dhabi Strategy for People of Determination, with the participation of more than 28 local and federal stakeholders in the Emirate. The strategy includes 6 key themes: health and rehabilitation, education, employment, social care, accessibility, and enablers. We are in the process of activating this strategy and implementing its initiatives, in partnership with various sectors across Abu Dhabi. We continuously seek to educate the community about people of determination from their rights perspective, while stressing that allparties in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi are responsible for integrating and empowering people of determination in order to achieve the main objective of our mission, which is to form the building blocks of a tolerant and inclusive community.