ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has urged for the creation of specific job opportunities for differently-abled people (DAPs) to help them become financially independent.
During a meeting with Dr Anis-ur-Rehman, Vice Chairman of Pakistan Foundation Fighting Blindness (PFFB), the president emphasized the importance of providing training and equipping DAPs with the necessary skill sets to help them become productive members of society.
The president also stressed that it is the collective responsibility of both the public and private sectors to support persons with disabilities and not neglect them.
Dr Anis-ur-Rehman informed the president about the steps taken by PFFB to support visually-impaired persons in Pakistan, including transforming the lives of more than 50,000 visually-impaired students and persons through educational services, capacity-building trainings, awareness campaigns, career counselling, and Assistive Technology.
The meeting also highlighted the lack of hostel facilities for visually-impaired girls in Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Balochistan, as well as the non-availability of writers, to help them during examinations.
Alvi stressed the importance of addressing these issues and raising awareness about the rights and issues of persons with disabilities in order to bring about positive behavioural change towards them.
