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Under the patronage of Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, the inaugural Abu Dhabi Police Disabled Sports Festival 2015 commenced on Tuesday evening in Khalifa Park in Abu Dhabi. The festival brought together 596 male and female participants with different disabilities, from 35 specialized centers and clubs for individuals with disabilities in the UAE, and schools affiliated with the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC).
Participants took part in the festival’s 18 different sports activities for people from 6-18 years of age with any physical disability.
The festival’s activities were attended by Major General Dr. Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Director General of Central Operations at Abu Dhabi Police; Mohammed Fadel Al Hameli, Secretary-General of Zayed Center for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs; Mohammed Salem Al Dhaheri, ADEC’s Executive Director of School Operations; Mohammed Abdullah Al Jarman, General Manager of Emirates Transport; Mosbeh Al Marr, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Municipality; and a large number of officers, heads of departments, chiefs of sections and branch managers, as well as a large public turnout from various institutions across the UAE.
Major General Dr. Al Raisi emphasized that providing care and assistance for people with disabilities is a national and humanitarian duty. He said: “Sports is an important tool to build the self-confidence and well-being of people with disabilities and improves their inclusion into society alongside their non-disabled peers.”
Major General Dr. Al Raisi stressed the importance of such sporting activities, which nurture socially righteous persons with disabilities, and helps them develop skills, exercise responsibility, solidarity and interaction. He also noted that the festival is the opportunity to discover the skills and abilities of people with disabilities in the various sports activities.
For his part, Colonel Mohammed Hamid bin Dalmouj Al Dhaheri, Strategy and Performance Development Director General at the Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters, said that the festival embodies the commitment of the Abu Dhabi Police to support and assist people with special needs and to nurture their inclusion into mainstream society. He praised the efforts of the specialized institutions and centers for people with disabilities and their keenness to sponsor the Abu Dhabi Police initiative in launching the inaugural edition of the disabled sports festival.
Adding further, he said: “The festival aims at enhancing the sports culture amongst people with disabilities and promote physical fitness. It also supports their aspirations with sporting and interactive programs and sustains the different initiatives designed to integrate them into society.”
The festival included a number of activities and drawing workshops, organized by the various police departments at the Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters. It also featured participation of the Community Police Department’s “Tathqeef” education traffic patrol and the mobile hospital of Abu Dhabi Police, in addition to the free drawing workshop organized by the Emergency and Public Safety Department of the Directorate General of Central Operations.
The closing ceremony commenced with the UAE national anthem, which was performed by the Abu Dhabi Police Music Band along with a number of national and traditional music pieces. A group of students from Al Bawadi School gave several performances of Harbiya and Yoolah dances, while the recreational competitions and prizes segment presented by media figure Jassem Obeid, the well-known teddy bear character, was highly acclaimed by the audience.
Concluding the first Disabled Sports Festival, Major General Dr. Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Director General of Central Operations at Abu Dhabi Police, honored the top ranking winners and the winners of the sporting competitions.
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