PROUD MOMENT: Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman lays the foundation stone for the Disabled Children’s Center in Riyadh’s Shifa district on Sunday. (AN photo by Iqbal Hossain)

RIYADH: Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman called on humanitarian organizations, businessmen and the general public to exert more efforts to integrate disabled children into mainstream Saudi society.

Prince Salman was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new chapter of the Disabled Children’s Association (DCA) in the capital city on Sunday night. The governor donated SR2 million for the SR14-million project in Shifa district of southern Riyadh.

The ceremony was attended by DCA Chairman Prince Sultan bin Salman, Saudi Research and Marketing Group Chairman Prince Faisal bin Salman and other members of the royal family, senior government officials and businessmen.

“This evening reminds me of a precious moment almost 25 years ago when I was commissioned by the late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd to lay the foundation stone for the headquarters of the Disabled Children’s Association in Riyadh. This pioneering institution has succeeded, with the help of Allah and the support of the government and philanthropists, in extending its free therapeutic, educational and rehabilitation services to many parts of the Kingdom and to thousands of our children with disabilities,” Prince Salman said.

“We are proud of the big role being played by charitable institutions in our country,” he added.

Prince Salman said the new center would help meet the needs of disabled children in the south of Riyadh. “I hope the association has prepared plans to cover the rest of the city’s neighborhoods as well as to reach out to other parts of the Kingdom, and this will only be achieved through the combined efforts of everyone,” said the governor.

Prince Sultan said that the new DCA center was being set up following a study conducted by a team of experts that recommended establishing such facilities in different parts of the country to serve disabled children.

He expressed hope that an endowment would be created to meet the new center’s operating cost, which will exceed SR3-million annually.

Through its seven centers in the Kingdom, the DCA currently helps more than 3,000 disabled children a year. Over 1,000 disabled children have been integrated into public schools after they completed their rehabilitation programs at various DCA centers.

Prince Sultan gave the example of how the DCA had trained thousands of Saudis in the field of special education over the years.

He also cited the success of many DCA social programs, such as “Try the Wheelchair,” a regular event where members of the public get to know how it feels to get around in a wheelchair. “The organization has been able to successfully change the perception people have of disability,” he said.

He pointed out that the DCA has consolidated its position by signing several cooperation deals with private and public sector organizations.

Recently, Crown Prince Sultan approved a number of recommendations made by a panel to help alleviate the sufferings of the physically challenged members of society. However, disabled people complain that many of the recommendations have not been implemented yet.