March 19, 2004

A REPORT ON THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA'S INTEREST IN LOOKING AFTER ORPHANS IN LIGHT OF THE ISLAMIC LAWS' CARE FOR THEM AND ITS ACKNOWLEDMENT OF THEIR RIGHTS. THE MINISTER OF LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS: THE GOVERNMENT INSPIRED FROM THE PRINCIPLES OF ISLAM AND ISLAMIC SHARIA OFFERS COMPREHENSIVE CARE FOR THE ORPHANS. THE CARE IS AVAILABLE THROUGH THE PARTICIPATION OF ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY AND THE EFFORTS OF THE GOVERNMENT. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's interest in taking care of orphans is based on the Islamic laws which stress on supporting them, acknowledging their rights and guaranteeing them a respected life and psychological and social stability. The keenness of the Islamic laws to look after the orphan and take care of him is derived from the fact that the word orphan is mentioned in twenty three versus of the Holy Qoran which concentrate on protecting him, helping him financially and morally and stand beside him when he gets married. Since the era of Prophet Mohamed, God's Blessing and Peace Be Upon Him, and his Companions, May God Be Pleased With Them, Muslims have adhered with these directives and followed them. The Kingdom's interest in taking care of orphans was embodied in King Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdul Rahman Al Saud's opening of the first orphan's house in Saudi Arabia more than seventy years ago. His Majesty King Abdul Aziz opened this house in Makkah in 1351 H., then in Madinah in 1354 H. and in Riyadh in 1357 H. This care continued till the task of looking after the orphans was commissioned to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs represented by the Undersecretariat for Social Affairs which began baring this responsibility in 1380 H., according to a Royal Decree which linked the orphans' houses financially and administratively with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. In an interview with the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Saudi Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Dr Ali Ibn Ibrahim Al Namlah confirmed the orphans and those who are with special needs receive a great deal of care which allow them to be raised on correct bases and be prepared to live a respected life. He added that all programs executed in or out of the orphan houses and institutions come in the framework of the direction which the Ministry seeks to implement which is merging the orphans and those with special needs in the society and trying to abolish any type of introversion and withdrawal. The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs stressed the importance of linking the orphans with their society, and said that there various groups of orphans living in the social houses from those who are of special needs and those who lost parents and can not find who take care of them. He added that is why the government is taking care of them, and in the mean time trying to find a communication between them and their relatives if found, and it offers them tickets to travel to see their relatives either inside the Kingdom or abroad. The Minister said the efforts Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, through the Undersecretariat for Social affairs, to take care of orphans are concentrating on establishing accommodating houses for both sexes as follows: 1- Social nursing Houses for both sexes under six. 2- Social nursing Houses for males between six and twelve. 3- Social nursing Houses for females who are more than six. 4-Exemplary nursing institutions for males between twelve and eighteen. He added that these houses are founded on scientific bases and face periodical supervision in order to be developed as the society is developing and changing. In addition, Makkah's Charitable Society has been extending assistance on a monthly basis to about 280 poor families. Last year, the Society's collections from cash and kind grants amounted to SR 10,338,946 while its expenditures for the year was SR 12 million. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency, Chairman of the Society's Board of Directors, Ameen Attas, said the Society depends on the annual subsidies it has been receiving from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs the subscriptions of the Society's members, donations by the philanthropists and the proceeds obtained from the Society's activities. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs started distributing special financial aid for the disabled worth SR 250 million, according to Ewad Al Radadi, Deputy Minister for Social Affairs. He said the amount represented 96 per cent of the aid allocated for the disabled in the current budget. The social services provisions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are extensive by any standards. The Fourth Five Year Development Plan (1405-1410 AH: 1985-1990) set out clearly the philosophy behind the Kingdom's extensive social services program. The social services are designed to redress existing imbalances, to improve living standards and the quality of life of the population to stimulate citizen participation in community development activities, and to provide remedial care and assistance for the disabled and the deprived. There are a number of social service agencies whose task it is to remedy social problems, many of which are created by the process of social development itself. The Saudi government takes the view that poverty and deprivation are not necessarily due to the failure of individuals to meet their own needs. Most of these problems are a result of broader external conditions in society as a whole, and will not solve themselves. Public and private interventions are necessary to improve the conditions of the individual and the community. The Social Services agencies will continue to pay attention to the development of Saudi society, to assist in improving the standard of living, and to take steps to redress some of the social imbalances which have become salient during this period of rapid economic change. Amongst the social services provided by the state are wide-ranging programs designed to improve living conditions for the population and to smooth the processes related to the rapid transformation of the socio-economic system. There are a number of social rehabilitation, care and remedial services, designed to assist the physically or mentally disadvantaged, to protect vulnerable members of society, and to deal with such problems as juvenile delinquency. Special attention is given to raising the living standards of the poorest sections of the community, particularly in the villages and the less developed districts of the towns and cities. The Social Security section of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs provides assistance to Saudi citizens in the following categories: (1) The unemployed. (2) Widows and widowers. (3) Females who have no living family members to support them. (4)Orphans. (5) The disabled. (6) Families of those serving custodial sentences. (7) Victims of natural disasters. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is concerned with the development and use of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's human resources. It is responsible for manpower planning, labour relations and the general monitoring of all matters relating to employment, as well as for social security affairs. In keeping with the Kingdom's Islamic foundation, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is charged with ensuring that the less fortunate citizens of Saudi Arabia, the physically or mentally handicapped, the aged and the destitute, are cared for within a humane society. Throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, facilities for the disabled and those needing rehabilitation have been established In the meantime, there is a special administration in the Ministry of Education that deals with teaching students with special needs. It is the General Secretariat for Special Education, and it is conducting its duties in a very good way in order to discover the disabled children with special educational needs from early stages. The General Secretariat for Special Education also puts the suitable plans and strategies for their welfare and their different groups. It also help them in developing their talents, educating them and training them in an aim to reach the best standard that suits their abilities and fits their capabilities after motivating, stimulating and employing them in the best possible way. In the light of the extensive strategy and the great qualitative and quantitative development jump of the General Secretariat for Special Education, the necessary plans and programs have been put not only to serve the blind, the deaf and the mentally retarded but efforts have continued night and day till educational cadres were crystallised and emerged to include with its care and attention other groups such as: 1- The impaired of hearing and speech group. 2- The sight impaired group. 3- The learning difficulties group. 4- The multiple disabilities group. 5- The autism sufferers group. 6- The physically handicapped and those with motor-nurone diseases group. And in fulfillment the targets of the education policy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , which dictates in its articles from 54 to 57 and from 188 to 194 that educating the distinguished is an unseparatable part of the Education system in the Kingdom. And in response to the rapid development and the great expansion which the field of educating the special needs groups in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is witnessing, the Ministry's General Secretariat for Special Education has put in 1417 H. an educational strategy based on ten axes. This came also in response to the Ministry's realization of the volume of the problem which is represented by the fact that around 20% of ordinary school students, in any country in the world, might need special educational services. And also in response of the Ministry's faith in the fact that the result from extending these services will not be limited to these groups only, but, by God's permission, a qualitative move in the educational process will take place and will positively affect the educational results in our country, The first axis concentrates on activating the role of normal schools in educating special students, while the second axis concentrates on expanding the range and role of the private education institutes. And in achieving the targets of this strategy, the Ministry's General Secretariat for Special Education has adopted a number of ambitious projects, a top of which is the project of "the expansion in applying the system of merging the children with special educational needs in the general education schools.'' A fast statistical look at the development of the institutes and programs of the private education, during the last five years, shows the qualitative and quantitative move which this exerted effort has achieved. The number of institutes and programs have increased from 67 in 1416/1417 H. to 845 institutes and programs in 1422/1423 H. This took place in a way that show the correctness of the path and the trend, which allows the special education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to occupy a distinguished position among countries of the world and to assume a pioneering role among the countries of the region in applying the modern educational methods in the various special education fields. There are a large number of orphan societies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia one of them is the Orphans Society in Riyadh Region which received generous donations from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The donation of SR five million given by the King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz for the Orphans Society in Riyadh Region, was received by Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the region's Emir. Another generous donation of SR five million given by King Fahd for the Prince Salman project for charity housing was also received by the Emir of Riyadh Region. Prince Salman expressed appreciation and thanks to King Fahd for his generous donations, which would be highly beneficial in supporting the two charitable projects. Also The Al Birr Charitable Society spent SR 31 million on its orphan sponsorship programme last year, according to a report issued by the society. Al Birr sponsors 1,254 orphans and spends SR 2,400 annually on each orphan, the report said. It also provides the orphans with educational and social assistance. Meanwhile, Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard patronized the opening ceremony of the Children's Center for the Handicapped in Jeddah, one of the modern, specialized facilities affiliated to the Kingdom's Handicapped Children Society. The Center has been built at a cost of SR 73.5 million. It extends over an area of 92,000 square meters in one of the up-market districts of Jeddah city. Meanwhile, Health Ministers of the member states of the Riyadh-based Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) have approved the grant of the Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Ahmed Ibn Abdul Aziz prize for the best research in the field of the handicapped - the first of its kind in the region. The decision, taken at the GCC Health Ministers Council's 48th conference in its 25th session, stated that the prize would be given away to the distinguished contributors in this field during meetings of the Health Ministers Council. Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Ahmed Ibn Abdul Aziz said the prize was aimed at encouraging scientific researches in the Gulf and in the wider world. He explained that the basic framework of the prize included: First: scientific research, which includes studies of different types of handicap, their causes, preventive programs for the handicapped and ways of alleviating suffering. Secondly: the field of drug-related inventions and innovations, which will make a contribution to reducing or preventing disabilities. Thirdly: equipment, devices and auxiliaries used to assist the disabled in their daily lives. Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Ahmed Ibn Abdul Aziz said all rights of patents will be reserved. He noted that the six-member Committee of Trustees formed to supervise the prize, would formulate detailed regulations for the prize. The first nominations for the prize will begin early 2002, he announced.