Mada Center and Qatar Career Development Center (QCDC), a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development (QF), held a graduation ceremony for the participants in the ‘Facilitating Career Development Programme’ – the first accredited training programme in Qatar in the field of career counselling to empower persons with disabilities through ICTs.
The programme was conducted within the framework of the partnership agreement signed between the two centres.
During the ceremony, certificates were distributed to the programme graduates from various relevant bodies.
Mada – Assistive Technology Center Qatar had signed a partnership agreement with QCDC in aim at working on developing services in the field of education, professional development, advice providing, and capacity building in the career guidance and development field.
The agreement also seeks supporting students with functional limitations in transitioning from supported education to advanced education through access to information and communication technology. To date, the most important commitments stemming from this partnership have been fulfilled, including the QCDC website receiving Mada Digital Access Accreditation, and the accreditation of 10 specialists in providing career guidance to people with disabilities as part of the Facilitating Career Development Program.
Maha al-Mansouri, CEO of Mada Center, delivered a speech at the ceremony in which she said, “We at Mada Center are pleased to continue with our distinguished achievements in this field. Qatar has ranked first globally on the Digital Accessibility Rights Evaluation Index.
Based on the Mada 2019-2021 strategy, and so as to fulfil its role as a strategic enabler for the relevant actors in the field of creating an environment for people with disabilities, Mada Center works to empower the educational, social, and cultural sectors in terms of digital accessibility through strategic and operational partnerships with these actors. The active partnership between Mada Center and the QCDC serves this purpose.”
Al-Mansouri congratulated the graduates, stating: “We all know that persons with disabilities face a set of difficulties that impede their full integration into society, independence, and achieving their future aspirations, especially at the professional level. To overcome these difficulties and challenges in terms of professional development, Mada Center and QCDC launched the Facilitating Career Development Programme.”
In his statement, QCDC’s Executive Director Abdulla al-Mansoori said, “We seek to empower and assist students with disabilities in setting their post-educational goals, so that they can develop their skills. Additionally, we aim at raising community awareness about the role of digital access in empowering and integrating persons with disabilities in society.
Therefore, we sought to establish many strategic partnerships and fruitful relations with various parties and partners nationwide, to ensure access to qualified cadres capable of fulfilling their role and perfectly performing the tasks entrusted to them, ultimately serving Qatar’s national priorities.”
During the ceremony, Mada Center presented QCDC with an honorary shield and a certificate of Digital Access Accreditation. Under this accreditation, the QCDC website has become accessible to all members of society, including people with disabilities and the elderly, as a culmination of long months of joint work with Mada Center to meet all international Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1).
This accomplishment pours into promoting digital inclusion and empowering people with disabilities and the elderly, as well as supporting their independence.
An international jury chose Mada Center in recognition of its excellence as a model for the sustaina
