HE Qatari Minister of Social Development and the Chairperson of the 42nd session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs, Mrs. Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misned, met with several ministers and high-level officials on the sidelines of the 16th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is currently being held in United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

HE Minister met individually: HE Minister of Social Affairs of the sister Republic of Tunisia, Malik Ezzahi, HE Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Social Affairs Sector of the League of Arab States, Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, HE Ministerial Delegate to the Office of the Prime Minister of Hungary, Laszlo Lovaszi, and the Executive Director of the International Disability Alliance, Vladimir Kok.

During the meetings, opportunities for cooperation in the development field provided to persons with disabilities were reviewed, in addition to discussing topics for the work of the 16th session of the conference. The conference coordinated Arab and international positions regarding the draft resolutions and final session recommendations.

The general discussions in the 16th session of the conference focused on "aligning national policies and strategies with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities," as several files were highlighted, including support for reproductive health and accessibility, as well as ways to enhance the health services that this group deserves, according to the agency.

This comes after the State of Qatar, represented by the Ministry of Social Development and Family, organized a side event entitled "The Role of Technology and Digital Innovation in Supporting Reproductive Health and Full Access for Persons with Disabilities: Qatari Efforts to Achieve the Goals."

During her opening speech to the event, HE Minister of Social Development and Family confirmed that her ministry has made great efforts, in partnership with the Ministry of Public Health and the civil society organizations sector, to provide health and reproductive care for people with disabilities and educate them about healthy pregnancy.

She explained that these efforts also included "facilitating access to information based on reliable medical sources about reproductive health through communication methods that suit their types of disabilities, by conducting community awareness activities to urge the importance of premarital medical examinations, which protect them and provide them with a healthy life."