CDA’s “Elkayt” workshops raise awareness about empowerment of people with disabilities

The Elkayt programme, an initiative of the Community Development Authority (CDA) in Dubai to help empower people with disabilities and prepare them to join the workforce, organised a series of workshops to reach out to private companies, clubs and universities in an effort to raise awareness about the programme. 

The Elkayt initiative has numerous services and procedures to assist in the easy enrollment of people with disabilities in the workforce. These include the assessment of applicants according to the type of disability, assistance in preparing the resume, access to a special adviser, training on how to perform job duties, professional guidance and advice, and special consulting services with employers on hiring people with disabilities. 

“Social integration of people with disabilities is possible only through their empowerment in all areas of life, particularly in access to jobs. Elkayt initiative of the CDA is a great step forward in this direction. For the successful implementation of this initiative, however, it is important to bring on board more participation from companies as well as relevant social entities. The series of workshops organized by Elkayt has helped raise awareness about this challenging task,” says Dr. Omar Al Muthanna Ceo Social Regulatory and licensing sector and Acting Ceo for Social Care. 

The workshops saw participation from job portal Ershaad.ae; private companies Manpower Group, Aswaaq and Tool-time; third sector entities including Jordanian Club, Russian Association and Italian Club; and Zayed University.   

Elkayt is seeking more involvement of companies in the UAE capable of contributing to the welfare of people with disabilities by embracing the task of empowerment. It has also urged the third sector entities to come forward if they can enlist the services of experienced personnel capable of understanding the requirements and training of people with disabilities.