Disability in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

Student’s name Institution Course Professor Date Introduction Saudi Arabia is located in Middle East, it borders Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. The country is ruled by an absolute monarchy. It is mainly a Muslim country and uses Arabic culture. Sheria laws are used in governing. Disability in Saudi Arabia is a great societal issue. It is estimated that 3.75% of its population has functional disabilities that limit their functionality and independence, ( Al-Gain & Al-Abdulwahab, 2001). We have different forms of disabilities that range from physical disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, and psychiatry disability among other types of disabilities. A disability in the Arab World is growing because of mainly three reasons: violence, poverty and malnutrition, and blood marriage (Kabbara, 2003). The practice of consanguineous marriages or blood marriages is the greatest contributor of disabilities in Saudi Arabia. Various employments and service provision programs to disables have been enacted in Saudi Arabia but more needs to be done. Saudi Arabia as a Muslim country has restrictions on the working conditions and independence of women. Women face different challenges in carrying out their functions. A woman carrying out research for instance faces challenges while interview respondents and in general data collection and compiling. Attitude towards disability in Saudi Arabia As an Islamic nation, its Sheria laws advocates for promotion of human rights especially for those people with disability. The government has taken some steps in helping the people with disabilities. For instance in the last two decade it has put in place measures and allocated finance in the promotion of health facilities for the disable, (Saudi Arabia Country profile on Disability, 2002). Training facilities for the disable and employment laws and policies have been developed to gather for the disable. Promotion of welfare and social facilities for them is a clear indication of positive attitude towards disability in Saudi Arabia. Despite this more needs to be put in place in terms of reducing the causes of disability like discouraging the culture blood marriages and promoting education to the society on treatment of the disable to reduce their discrimination in the society. Employment laws in Saudi Arabia need to be enhanced to ensure non-discrimination of the disable in recruitment and at the workplace. Current services for people with disability in Saudi Arabia The government and nongovernmental organisations collectively offer disability services in Saudi Arabia. Both the central and the local governments have put in place several service institutions to help the disable. For instance, the ministry of Education operates various institutions like Noor Institute for the Blind, Institute for the Intellectually Disabled and Amal Institute for Deaf among others. The ministry of labour and social services operates various rehabilitation centres in Riyadh, Taif and Damman, Social Rehabilitation Centres for the Severely Disabled in Riyadh, Al-Ahsa and Medinah, Comprehensive Rehabilitation Centres in 5 regions, the Institute for Paraplegic Children in Riyadh and Taif, and Social Welfare Centres for the elderly in 7 major cities. These institutions offer services to the disable. Other organisations largely nongovernmental also offer services to the disable. Ebsar Foundation for Rehabilitation and Service of Visual Disability provides provide development and basic employment programs for visually impaired elders so that they can live normal life, Alsekait (2003). In addition, it offers home based treatment for the disables in weekly basis. Another great service provider institution to the disables in Saudi Arabia is Afghan Amputee Bicyclists for Rehabilitation and Recreation (AABRAR). According to Turaiki (2000), the organisation has members that visit provinces to offer training on modern bicycle use among men, women and children with physical disabilities. The organisation also offers training to the disable like literacy, numerical skills, physiotherapy and other health education. Service provision to the disable in Saudi Arabia has continued to increase over the decades. Day Care Centres, Polio-Care Institutes, Comprehensive Rehabilitation Centres and other many organisations have emerged to gather for the disable. More funding by the government and nongovernmental organisations has made it to improve. Employment policies for people with disabilities in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Government has put in place various legislation to guide employment sector in the country, among the laws are those targeting those with disabilities. Employment is very crucial and necessary for both normal and the disable; it presents a way for social inclusion and a source of financial resources needed for our well-being. Employment of the disability in Saudi Arabia is mainly taken care by Labour and Workman Law. It defines a “person with disability” as “any person whose capacity to perform and maintain a suitable job has actually diminished as a result of a physical or mental infirmity.” This legislation guarantees the rights of the disable and advocates for non-discrimination at the work place and in the general employment sector. The government through the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs develops and implement career development programs for the disable. This ministry runs career rehabilitation department that gathers for various aspects for the disable. It follows up and implements career rehabilitation programs, draws rehabilitation policies and carriers out research on the development of programs. It also carries out the actual rehabilitation for people with disabilities and prepares them for employment. Provision of rehabilitation programs is a great policy achievement by the Saudi Arabia government. This programs and policies are very beneficial to the employees since they help them to prepare for employment opportunities. Saudi American Bank (2000) reports that this group receive training and rehabilitation needed to suit them in the market. Many disable people have benefitted from these and have been able to compete favourably in the employment sector with the rest of job seekers. The Saudi Arabia laws has harmonised its employment laws to ensure job requirements for the disable are lowed to qualify for some jobs. Reisam & Reisam (2003) notes that there have been round table talks between government and employers in attempts to ensure that minimum academic qualification needed from people with special needs is lower compared to their counterparts. The government also works with other stakeholders to ensure that negative attitude witnessed in the labour market especially in the hiring process and the ineffective rehabilitation placement methods is minimised. Employers have been also encouraged to stop looking at employees in terms of their physical characteristics and instead, characterise them based on their reliability, efficiency, honesty and motivation. Despite development of various legislations, policies and programs to aid employment of the disable in Saudi Arabia, studies have established that people still holds negative attitudes towards disabled leading to discrimination in both recruitment process and placement methods (Walston, Al-Harbi & Al-Omar, 2008) Difficulties and complications facing a female Muslim Saudi researcher Research and education is highly encouraged by the Muslims and in Saudi Arabia. Women in Saudi Arabia have deeply ventured in research and data collection. We have great women scholars and experts in different fields of study. Research carried out must adhere to Islamic religion and ethics. Despite modernisation and globalisation, women researchers from Saudi Arabia still face challenges in their research activities. Some of the challenges include, negative attitude towards female works, the challenge of maintaining privacy and confidentiality in research Female workers in most of the Muslim and Arabic countries experience patriarchal power relations and negative attitudes (Mostafa, 2005; Jamaliet al., 2005; Al-Lamki, 2007; Omair, 2008). This is mainly caused by traditional interpretation of some parts of religious texts regarding women position in the social- cultural set up of their religion. Traditional religious scholars and preachers see women position as that of being staying in homesteads and devoting their time to their families, working only on female jobs and not male dominated jobs. They see the need of there being a clear separation between female and male in the society. These kind of religious beliefs make female researchers to experience many challenges in their work. Research in some places is considered a male job and thus females are not given the necessary support. Islam religion believes that does not allow a female to be in one room alone with a male respondent is hindrance to women research. The religion demands that when a woman wants to meet men that are not related they must be accompanied third parties to guarantee their privacy. Other people in Saudi Arabia still follow believes that women must receive permission from their guardians (husband, father or sons) when they want to work, (Walker, 2009). Some people in this society also believe that women should not be allowed to interview or collect information from men; it is seen as ruining their reputation among the society members. Talking sensitive information to men is also seen as unreligious among the women. These forms of laws and traditional believes are hindrance to research especially in the collection of confidential information from male respondents. Conclusion Saudi Arabia government and the general society have developed positive attitude and perception towards the blight of those with disability. The Government has implemented various policies and programs to aid the disable in the society. One major achievement or programs implemented are rehabilitation facilities, programs and assistance offered to the disable. Saudi Arabia has also been seen making significant strides in putting in place policy frameworks that address various employment issues affecting the disable. This has improved employment rates and conditions for the disable in the country. Female workers and employees in general continue to encounter challenges in Saudi Arabia. This is mainly attributable to the Islamic religion and ethics that offers them unfavourable working climate. Negative attitudes towards working women among some members of the society and women-men interaction ethics are the main challenge to women researchers in this country. Such ethics and traditions needs to be changed for women to enjoy carrying out research and other duties like men. References Al- Turaiki, M. (2000). National Survey of disability and rehabilitation in Saudi Society. The Joint Centre for Research in Prosthetics rthotics, 5(7): 35-40. Al-Gain, S & Al-Abdulwahab, S, (2001). Issues and obstacles in disability research in Saudi Arabia. Al-Lamki, A. (2007). Feminizing leadership in Arab societies: the perspectives of Omani female leaders. Women in Management Review, 22(1): 49-67. Alsekait M. (2003). The Incidence of disability in Al Qaseem. Prince Salman Centre for Disability Research, Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Jamali, D., Sidani, Y. and Safieddine, A. (2005). Constraints facing working women in Lebanon: an insider view. Women in Management Review, 20(8): 581-94. Japan International CooperationAgency Planning and Evaluation Department, (2002). Country Profile on Disability Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. . Kabbara, N. (2003). Arab Conference on Disability held October 2002 in Beirut, Identifies Violence as a Major Cause of Disability. Retrieved from . Mostafa, M. (2005). Attitudes towards women managers in the United Arab Emirates: The effects of patriarchy, age, and sex differences. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 20(6): 552-640. Omair, K. (2008), “Women in management in the Arab context”,Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 1(2): 107-23. Saudi American Bank (2000). Report on Employment situations in Saudi Arabia. Walker, L. (2009). The right to health in Saudi Arabia: ‘Right to health in the Middle East’ project, Law School, University of Aberdeen,. Walston, S., Al-Harbi, Y., & Al-Omar, B. (2008). The changing face of healthcare in Saudi Arabia. Annals of Saudi Medicine, 28 (6): 243–250. Read More