Dubai: The Noor Dubai Foundation, in collaboration with CITIZEN Watches, has distributed 100 Braille watches to the Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organization (BERDO) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, as part of World Braille Day.
The collaborative activity is to support 100 blind and visually impaired students enrolled at BERDO, an institute that helps students learn braille, assists graduates in finding suitable jobs, and empowers them to overcome the disability as well as to become active members of society.
There is a profound need for rehabilitation to help strengthen health systems in rehabilitation services. The global rehabilitation 2030 initiative, launched in 2017 by the World Health Organisation, aims at making rehabilitation an essential health service crucial for achieving universal health coverage.
Dr. Manal Taryam, CEO of the Noor Dubai Foundation, remarked.
“Globally, around 253 million people suffer from visual impairment, and 80 percent of it is curable or avoidable. About 750,000 people in Bangladesh are suffering from blindness. Around 1.5 million children in Bangladesh are suffering from low vision,” the CEO added.
Mr. Yasuhiro Sakuma, general manager of Citizen Watches Gulf Co., commented on the collaboration that “it is indeed a great honour for CITIZEN to be part of this noble initiative, and we are very grateful to Noor Dubai for supporting us to accomplish the brand’s vision.”
According to the general manager, the services provided by BERDO cover many aspects of the rehabilitation of the blind and the visually impaired, as well as supporting students by providing accessibility to affordable rehabilitation services, including housing, education, training, and equipping students with the tools needed to achieve independence.
The UAE ambassador to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Mr. Abdullah Ali Al Hamoudi, expressed his pleasure at attending the celebration of World Braille Day in Bangladesh through the facilitation of the collaboration between the Noor Dubai Foundation and BERDO.