In cooperation with Sasol, the international integrated chemicals and energy company, the Qatari National Committee for Education, Culture and Science organized a two-day training workshop on accessibility awareness and audit to representatives from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. This accessibility audit training falls under Sasol’s corporate social responsibility initiative Accessible Qatar, and was conducted on 14 -15 January at the Arab Educational Training Center for the Gulf States.
Sasol’s accessibility consultants Jennifer Stirling and Issam Azouri led the workshop, which shed light on the models of disability and the various barriers to accessibility and how to identify them. Moreover, the two consultants and the attendees, using the Accessible Qatar app, conducted a live audit at Umm Ghuwailina Health Centre and Ahmad bin Hanbal Independent Secondary School for Boys and discussed the findings attained.
This training will enable representatives of the ministries present at the workshop to conduct accessibility audits in the education and health venues in Qatar. At present, more than 100 locations around Qatar, ranging from hotels and shopping malls to touristic places and public parks, have been audited. With this training, which is part of a series of workshops, Sasol aims to cover more sectors and increase the audited venues to be included in Accessible Qatar app and website.
Dr. Hamda Al Sulaiti, Secretary General of the Qatari National Committee for Education, Culture and Science said: “Building an inclusive society is a collective responsibility. It is important for the public sector and government employees to play a key role here. Such training helps provide the necessary information on accessibility at the various education and health sector venues in Qatar. We thank Sasol for its efforts and we are pleased with our cooperation to render this training successful and support the pioneering Accessible Qatar initiative.”
Commenting on the workshop, Phinda Vilakazi, President of GTL Ventures at Sasol said: “Accessible Qatar aspires to build an inclusive society where the whole Qatar is accessible. The training workshops that we hold with various stakeholders help promote the culture of inclusion and accessibility and show its importance and benefits for the entire nation. We thank the Qatari National Committee for Education, Culture and Science for facilitating the workshop and look forward to further cooperation in the future to help the disabled community in Qatar.”
Accessible Qatar is a smartphone application and website, the first of its kind in the region. It provides the disabled community with instant and reliable information about the accessibility of public and touristic locations in Qatar. Combining expertly audited data with user-submitted reviews and ratings, Accessible Qatar gives the disabled community and tourists the confidence to visit different accessible destinations. The app is available for download free of charge on App Store, Google Play store, and Windows Phone Store.