Saudi ministry’s priority access plan ‘helps thousands

More than 3,000 Saudis have benefitted from a pioneering initiative launched last week to give people with special needs improved access to government services and departments.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Development’s “Priority for Them” initiative focuses on four segments of society — the elderly, disabled, pregnant women and new mothers — giving them priority in waiting areas and queues to ensure better service.
The community awareness initiative, which kicked off on Wednesday, under the slogan “You are more worthy … Your well-being is our duty,” has helped thousands of people with special needs, according to Youssef bin Musafir Al-Sayali, the ministry’s director in Riyadh.
A mobile platform supervised by 15 ministry employees and volunteers from the Society for Physically Disabled Adults (Harakia) introduced sites that included King Khalid International Airport, King Saud Medical City hospital and Al-Makan Mall.
The initiative is one of a set of programs launched by the ministry to improve social services. According to the General Authority of Statistics in 2018, the plans could provide more than 5 million Saudi people with a fast track to essential services.