KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Persons with Disabilities (PADA) is working to increase the empowerment of people with disabilities to work in public and private sectors, in order to integrate them into the society, a senior official said Saturday. PADA is keen to offer opportunities to this segment of the society to allow them to reach comprehensive empowerment in our country, through offering various training courses to develop their capabilities and performance for their future jobs, said PADA Acting Deputy Director General of Educational and Rehabilitation Services Al-Khansaa Al-Husaini.

She was speaking to KUNA on the sidelines of "Watheefti" (My Job) employment exhibition, which is concluding its activities. The professional courses offered by PADA are of vast variation, including information technology, health and safety, library management, customer service and handcrafts, she said. There are around 90 trainees with disabilities, whom PADA, through its training courses and activities, is trying its best to assist them, she added.

Director of the Institute of Human Construction for Training Awatif Al-Salman told KUNA that 56 PADA trainees were accepted in field work, especially in new domains like baking, communication, industries and oil. A special pavilion was allocated for people with disabilities in the exhibition, representing their aspirations and reflecting their capabilities, showing their importance in the society, she said. The society is working to invent new job descriptions in cooperation with bodies in charge in order to activate the law that obliges the appointment of 4 percent of persons with disabilities in areas of work, she said.

Taking part in new job opportunities as well as empowering and finding jobs for them are the rights of people with disabilities, she affirmed. The "Watheefti" employment exhibition kicked off on Jan 5 in Arena Hall, located in 360 Mall, being the largest expo for empowerment opportunities in the country, working to employ youth and national competencies in the public and private sectors. - KUNA