The Ministry of Social Development and Family (MSDF) has announced the start of receiving nomination for GCC Excellence and Creativity Award for Persons with Disabilities for two categories: creative and distinguished persons with disabilities, and entities supporting the empowerment of persons with disabilities.

The Award is one of the pioneering initiatives organised by the Committee of Their Excellencies the Ministers of Social Affairs and Development in the GCC countries in the field of empowering them. 

It seeks to stimulate the energies and potentials of persons with disabilities, their families and the community in order to achieve excellence in their lives.

This community initiative seeks to provide comprehensive support for creativity and excellence in all areas of life for people with disabilities, their families and society in general, enhancing their capabilities and supporting full integration.

The Award also aims to honour the outstanding achievements of people with disabilities, and encourages local and regional efforts aimed at expanding knowledge in the fields of disability, which contributes to achieving their empowerment and effective integration into society.

The Community Care Department of Ministry of Social Development and Family, explained that the Excellence and Creativity Award for Persons with Disabilities is granted once every two years.

The awards are presented during a ceremony held on the sidelines of the Gulf Theatre Festival for Persons with Disabilities, where six distinguished personalities with disabilities are chosen for the category of creators, and one person is chosen from each country of GCC.

Six supporting entities will be selected to empower people with disabilities, one entity from each country, with each member state responsible for selecting the winning individuals and entities according to the criteria and conditions specified for nomination.

The organising committee of GCC Creativity and Excellence Award for Persons with Disabilities announced the opening of nominations for the category of creative and distinguished persons with disabilities.

As per the conditions the candidate must be a person with a disability, without requiring a specific degree or type of disability or specifying a specific age for the candidate.

The candidate must also be a citizen of the country nominating him. The conditions also include that the candidate has implemented projects or achieved creative or distinguished accomplishments that contribute to empowering people with disabilities and enhance their opportunities for integration into society.

As for nominating entities that support the empowerment of persons with disabilities, it is required that the entity be from the voluntary civil sector or one of the private commercial sector institutions.

Nominations from official or governmental bodies will not be accepted. The body must have implemented projects or initiatives aimed at empowering persons with disabilities, and these projects must achieve tangible results that contribute to this empowerment.

The nominating entity must also be officially registered and operating permanently in the country from which it is nominated, in accordance with the regulations and laws in force in each country.

The Ministry of Social Development and Family called on those wishing to participate to fill out the nomination form and send entries by scanning the barcode on the Ministry’s accounts on social media platforms from October 15 to October 22, 2024.