emirates7 - The Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination (ZHO) has included the translation of Dubai’s Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its executive regulations in sign language for the deaf on its smartphones application, as well as audio material that suits the blind and visually impaired.

The publication includes the text of Law No. 3 of 2022 issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, regarding the rights of persons with disabilities in the emirate, and its executive regulations that were issued by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council.

The initiative aims to spread the law to all groups and deliver its materials to the public, especially People of Determination, including the audio-visual, to ensure access to information, empower PODs with knowledge of their rights, and raise awareness of the various segments and groups of the society of special legislation for people of determination.

The deaf category can view the entire articles of the law and its executive regulations and watch translated film materials through the smart application, where the translation has been divided according to its articles and executive regulations.

This community initiative comes from the Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determinations (ZHO) strategic framework to expand the scope of participation of people of determination in community activities and nurture their talents to allow them to participate in public life. It is also related to the objectives of the Supreme Legislation Committee in Dubai regarding providing sustainable and balanced government legislation and promoting legislative culture.

Abdullah Al Humaidan, Secretary-General of ZHO, stated that the organisation carries a humanitarian message for all categories of People of Determination, as it works to provide care and rehabilitation for them and seeks to empower them by launching initiatives that contribute to achieving this goal.

He added that ZHO had earlier launched, as part of its national initiatives, the Emirati Sign Language Dictionary Project for the Deaf, which collects local Emirati sign language terms and documents them in an approved version to work towards integrating the deaf category of people of determination into society and spreading their language, especially the Emirati vocabulary in the Emirati sign language Under the slogan 'Towards a Unified Emirati Sign Language Dictionary'. Its first phase was launched with the approval and blessing of the Cabinet, with the participation of eight different parties. More than sixty deaf and deaf people participated in the completion of the work, in addition to twelve translators and twelve individuals working with the deaf.

The secretary-general indicated that the idea of the Emirati Sign Language Documentation Project comes from the need for deaf people in the country for a unified reference that gathers their language, to ensure its continuity and growth, and to study the changes that occur to it in the future, due to the special nature of sign language. In addition, Deaf people are referred to an indicative encyclopaedia documenting their language for them like their peers in neighbouring countries.

Ahmed bin Meshar, Secretary-General of the Dubai Supreme Legislation Committee, valued the fruitful cooperation and distinguished partnership with the ZHO within the project. He stressed that this is in line with the new methodology of federal government work announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to accelerate achievements and set priorities by transforming government activities, business and plans into transformational projects at the national level to work as one team.

Ahmed bin Meshar added, "Law No. 3 of 2022 on the rights of persons with disabilities in the Emirate of Dubai represents an important impetus to overcome the obstacles facing people of determination and achieve decent living for them and equality with others through the adoption of policies, plans and initiatives that ensure the protection of their rights to access on basic care, rehabilitating them, integrating them into society, and participating fully in all aspects of life in accordance with the best practices that contribute to enhancing their rights."