The project is also under the ‘Al Wakrah is Disabled Friendly’ initiative, which falls under the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality inaugurated on Sunday a waterfront promenade for visually impaired individuals at the Al Wakrah Public Beach under local efforts to ensure accessibility for people with disabilities.
The Al Wakrah Municipality’s Director Mohammed Hassan Al Nuaimi said that the promenade represented another move by Qatar to serve all segments of society in the country, state news agency (QNA) reported.
He added that the project was part of the local efforts to promote eco-friendly practices by opening different facilities that benefit the population, including people with disabilities.
The walkway has signs made from recycled materials that display information in Braille for the visitors with visual impairment to easily access.
It is the second phase of a local project aimed at developing a sustainable private beach for people with disabilities, the walkway project’s advisor, Soha Mahmoud Tufailya, said, as cited by QNA.
The relevant authorities implemented the first phase of the project in 2022 by building “a special sea walkway” that benefited people with mobility disabilities and the elderly.
The project is also under the ‘Al Wakrah is Disabled Friendly’ initiative, which falls under the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) had conducted the ‘National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey’ last October, which targeted individuals aged 50 or older in the country.
The survey found that 91.9 percent of the population in the surveyed age group maintained normal vision whereas 8.1 percent had vision impairment. A total of 0.2 others had severe visual impairment and 0.3 percent were diagnosed with the absence of vision.
The MoPH has also been conducting annual programmes for schools in order to detect visual impairments among the students.
Only 10 percent of school students in Qatar suffer from abnormal visual acuity, less than 6/6, during the academic year 2022-2023 in comparison to 14 percent in the year 2021-2022.
At least 82 of Qatar’s schools are accessible for students with disabilities including visual impairments, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education said in March. Four schools accommodate students with visual impairments.
As a sports capital, Qatar also ensured accessibility for people with disabilities during past major tournaments.
This was seen during the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 between January and February where fans with visual disabilities had access to special services from their mobile devices to listen to a thorough description of the games.
