Shafallah lights up its buildings green in celebration of Family Day in Qatar

As part of the celebration of Qatar Family Day, which falls on April 15th of each year, the Al Shafallah Center for Persons with Disabilities, one of the centers under the umbrella of the Qatar Foundation for Social Work, launched the "Loving Gift" initiative for families of people with disabilities. This initiative aims to present a symbolic gift to selected families, selected based on specific criteria, as an expression of the center's gratitude for their role in supporting and empowering their children with disabilities.

On this occasion, Mrs. Maryam Saif Al-Suwaidi, Executive Director of the Shafallah Center, stated that Family Day in Qatar is a national occasion celebrated by the State on the fifteenth of April of each year, emphasized that the idea of this day was launched during the World Family Conference organized by the Supreme Council for Family Affairs in 2004, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family. Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser “may God protect her" called for this day to be dedicated to celebrating the family, and it has been officially adopted since 2011.

Al Suwaidi said that the celebration of Family Day in Qatar aims to highlight the importance of the family as the fundamental building block of society and enhance its role in achieving development and stability. She noted that the Shafallah Center on this occasion will organize many activities and events during this day, it includes awareness programs and activities aimed at supporting and protecting the family, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy.

In this context, the Executive Director of the Shafallah Center said, "There is no doubt that highlighting the importance of the family in society and its role in building it, and to promote equality and shared common responsibilities among all family members is the focus and goal of celebrating Family Day in Qatar.

She added, "The Shafallah Center for Persons with Disabilities believes in the importance of the family and its pivotal role in community development, and that it is the real pillar of sustainable development, the center has participated with all parties in the country that celebrate this day by lighting its building in green to coincide with this celebration, and she emphasized in her statement «We seek to raise the degree of community awareness in general and the family in particular about disability and its issues and contribute to legal awareness of the rights of people with disabilities in society in addition to promoting the community, religious and cultural values of the family to take care of their children with disabilities."

On the occasion of the celebration of Family Day in Qatar, Mrs. Maryam Saif Al-Suwaidi, Executive Director of the Shafallah Center, honored a number of families of the center's affiliates with disabilities through the launch of the "Love Gift" initiative, which aims to provide a symbolic gift to some families who were selected based on criteria represented in the extent of their attendance at events and periodic meetings with the center such as "workshops, awareness meetings, guidance sessions and others" in addition to the extent of positive interaction with the specialized team in the center, and communication continuous with specialists and adherence to consultation appointments," and to the level of family follow-up of  habilitation programs and plans, the implementation of recommendations inside the home, and the involvement of their children in events and competitions, whether inside or outside the center, while providing them with continuous support. She added that the extent to which the affiliate has achieved tangible development thanks to the support of the family, whether at the educational, behavioral or social levels, has also been considered. 

The Executive Director of the Shafallah Center explained that the evaluation of families also considered the extent of their commitment to the center's policies and instructions, "such as the commitment to wear the uniform designated for affiliates, and official working hours," in addition to their participation in awareness campaigns organized by the Shafallah Center and interaction with the media or social platforms to spread awareness about people with disabilities and their rights

Al-Suwaidi concluded by saying, "We must pay serious attention to the role of the family and provide ongoing support to help them confront the challenges they face, especially if it has a child with disabilities, and work to integrate him into society, end his isolation and help him obtain all his rights stipulated in international conventions."

It is worth mentioning that the Department of Family Support and Psychological Counseling at the Shafallah Center works continuously with the families of the center's affiliates with disabilities and seeks to provide psychological counseling services and provide awareness and training lectures to the families of the affiliates, through a schedule of periodic educational sessions provided directly and through electronic platforms, and parents are invited and encouraged to join these lectures, sessions, training workshops and courses, with the aim of providing them with the necessary skills to achieve a better life and mental health that enable and encourage them to develop their self-confidence to improve their skills and update These workshops contribute to enhancing the role of the family in caring for their children with disabilities, and provide them with the most important strategies for developing communication skills and behavior modification for their children.