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AN EXCEPTIONAL SESSION MODERATED BY SHEIKHA JAMEELA BINT MOHAMMED AL QASIMI

Dec 15, 2020

On Tuesday, December 15, 2020, Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS) Production and Training Media Centre organized a virtual introductory session at the center aimed at introducing the role it plays to deliver its services to the largest number of persons with disabilities, whether they are working or wanting to join the media filed.  At the same time, the center urged the institutions concerned with PWD to integrate their members into the center, shed light on the upcoming media programs and courses that the center will organize, and strengthen partnership with the institutions and stakeholders.  The number of attendants from various centers and institutions working with PWD has reached 103

Her Highness Sheikha Jameela bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Director General of SCHS, Moderated the virtual session. After welcoming all participants and speakers, Her Highness announced a special surprise, which is the reduction in fees for registering in the upcoming media courses that the center will organize for people who attended the session to become only 200 dirhams and the same amount for people registered through their friends. They can attended for a whole week.

During the session, speakers presented an overview of the center. His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah inaugurated the center on Wednesday November 22, 2017 shortly after he opened the activities of the second edition of the International Photography Festival (Xposure) at the Expo Center Sharjah. His Highness inaugurated it as the first center of its kind for media production and training and as one of the centers and departments that complement the work of Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services. It aims to train persons with disabilities in visual and electronic media production.

The vision of the center comes from the vision of SCHS to be a pioneering institute in advocating, including and empowering persons with disabilities in the media field within the UAE and the Arab world.

The center mission is to enable persons with disabilities to produce and work in the media, to ensure their efficiency and ability to deal with the requirements and developments of media work, and to provide opportunities for their inclusion in the operating institutions.

The director general of SCHS talked about the center’s objectives, the most important of which is training persons with disabilities in the fields of media work, enabling them to produce media content with quality and creativity, and facilitating their integration into the media institutions in the country and providing job opportunities.  In addition to activating partnerships with institutions working in the field with the aim of receiving training in various media fields.

Then, she talked about work developments at the center since its actual launch in 2017. The center worked within its training programs to attract and train persons with disabilities within the age group from 16 years to 30 years of all nationalities living in the country.

With the beginnings of work, the center signed an agreement for media production and training with Khutwa Media Production Company to provide the necessary training courses and consultations for the center’s staff.  Among the most important achievements of the center during the past period is its contribution to the employment of five persons with disabilities and the active participation of its staff in festivals and exhibitions to achieve integration opportunities.  In addition to its contribution to the production of media content for SCHS’s departments and centers. The team of the center works in SCHS in the areas of photography and montage.

The policy of joining the center - according to Sheikha Jameela Al Qasimi - is the following.  The center receives persons with disabilities directly. The center register them in its database as trainees. It also receives people interested in media training and transferred from Masarat Center for Development and Empowerment, Art for All Center (Falaj), and Disability Resources Center of the University of Sharjah.

The Director General of Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services thanked center's partners, namely: Khutwa Media Production Company, FUNN – Sharjah Media Arts for Youth and Children, and the College of Communication at the University of Sharjah, with her best wishes to continue this cooperation in the future for all that is good for people with disabilities and society.

After that, Mr. Saeed Butti Hadid, Director of Production and Training Media Center, expressed his pride and happiness with the work of center's team and the great efforts they make in pursuit of permanent and continuous success.

After playing a short video about the members of the team, namely; Graphic Designer Abdelkader Meknes, Photographer Anas Nabil, Assistant Photographer Abdel Mogheith Saleh, Photographer Rima Mohamed and Photographer Lamia Othman, the door was opened to talk about the courses.

Dr. Alaa Makki, Head of Mass Communication Department at the College of Communication at the University of Sharjah, and Hussam Al-Saeed, Head of Studios Unit, spoke about the TV, photography and montage courses offered by the University of Sharjah.  With the aim of placing the trainee in a scientific and practical professional environment to acquire the skills and experience necessary to carry out filming and editing television works and the related requirements that need additional skills.

Moreover, among the courses that the center will organize is 'the Principles of Editing News'.  The journalist in Media Department of SCHS Corporate Communication Department Hazem Dahi Shehadeh will deliver the course. It aims at training participants on the editing skills necessary to write news.

The center is going to organize drone photography courses in cooperation with FUNN – Sharjah Media Arts for Youth and Children as well as a workshop in professional animation (motion graphics) and digital montage for beginners.

At the end of the session, the moderator opened the door for attendees to ask questions, discuss and make suggestions.

To register for the courses, please visit SCHS’s website


www.schs.ae