From Education to Economic Participation: Redesigning Transition Pathways for Persons with Disabilities in the Era of Artificial Intelligence (COSP19 Side Event)

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It's my great pleasure to welcome you to this side event held in conjunction with the Conference of the State Parties to the Convention on the right of the person with disabilities, CASP, entitled from education to economic participation. Reducing transition pathways for person with disabilities in age of artificial intelligence. Today's discussions focus on critical policy and development challenges. that goes beyond ensuring access to education or provision of support services. It concerns the extent to which our system, institution and labour markets are equipped to enable persons with disability to successfully transition into meaningful productivity and suitable economic participation. As artificial intelligence goings continues to transfer, to transform the future of work, it presents both unpresentable opportunities and and important challenges. This requires us to rethink traditional transition pathways and decision more and inclusive models that empower person with disabilities to fully contribute to and benefit from economic and social development. My name is Shahin Asoreti, Director of Communication and Media in the NUR Centre in the state of Qatar. It's my honor to serve this session as a moderator. To facilitate more engagement dialogue, I will continue the session in Arabic. For our distinguished guests who wish will be continue this session in English, please use the interpretation devices. Thank you for your joining us today.

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, peace and God's blessings be upon all of you. Let me express our thanks and gratitude to the Qatar social service system, which enjoys and the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations in New York for organizing this side event. We also express our thanks to our partners, the ILO, Citris Center, and the Arab Organization for People with Disabilities for participating in this session. Allow me now to welcome our distinguished guests. Her Excellency, Mrs. Hind Aboud, Minister of Social Development in the Arab Republic of Syria. Her Excellency, Mrs. Hassa Sakhmetba, Assistant Secretary General of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Entrepreneur, the United Arab Emirates. Mrs. Zahra Suljuko, the Director of CDRIC, the former Minister on the State of Turkey. I want to welcome Mr. Nawaf Mubara, Chairman of IDA and the Chairman of the Arab Organization for People with Disabilities, one of the leading organizations in defending the rights of Mr. Mishal Abdullah Naimi, the Center for the Blind, which who lead national, important national interest of helping families with people with disabilities. And the participants is Fatima Timemi, director of the Schiffer Center for Persons with Disabilities, so party helps people with disabilities to attain independent living. Mr. Mohammed Mutlaq, especially at the Braille training specialist, who has notable practical experience in helping people with the blind. Mrs. Meeha Abdullah, among coordinator of training and technical cooperation in C-REP, in organizing cooperation between members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the representative of the which plays a key role in facilitating work that include the inclusion of people with disabilities in the labor market. Also, Dr. Victor Pienda, President of the World Enabled, President of Global Alliance on Accessible Technologies and Environmental for All. We also welcome all the distinguished participants, representatives of the member states, representatives of academic institutions, international organizations, social society members who are on inclusive development. And we hope that we will exchange views from education to economic participation of people with disabilities at the age of artificial intelligence. Before we start, I would like to mention that we have 60 minutes, and includes opening statements and the intervention of the panelists, or one minute each, and every individual who wishes to participate. Now, allow me to call on His Excellency Dr. Nov Kovara, President of the International Federation for International Alliance for the Disabled. We'll give you the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Shaheen.

Excellencies, let me start by thanking the Qatar Minister for organizing this event. And I'm so glad and proud to be with you today. This subject is of vital importance that we need to address as soon as possible. Let me start by the assumption to say that all the educational system and place of work that we know traditionally today will be totally vanish within educate. And we're going to a completely total new system affecting our society, our life, our values, and the way things are organized in society. Based on this assumption, I'm going to focus today on the question of disability and artificial intelligence, a subject that we're starting to give it lots of attention and focus because this is what we're going to face in the coming future, and this is where we're going to adapt our life accordingly. Excellencies, it is an honor to address you today on this subject, and by start to say to you, we are living through a technological transformation unlike any we have witnessed before. We witnessed the different kind of revolution during the last decade. If you look at the 20th century, we pass through different things, electronic age, and then we get the communication revolution, and then we get the internet and so on. And through this, you have seen how much our life has changed drastically. But the main difference in all the changes that took place during the 20th century The human beings are in control of this change and the one who producing it. With artificial intelligence, for the first time, we have something that humans have produced, but they're going to be independent agent working on their own, developing their own system, their own thinking, and with much more advanced intelligence. Just imagine where we are going. Based on this, I would say that artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how we communicate, learn, work, access services, and participate in society. Decisions that once depended on human judgment are increasingly influenced by algorithms, automated systems, and machine learning technologies. For persons with disabilities, this transformation presents both extraordinary opportunities and significant risk. On one hand, AI has the potential to become one of the most powerful tools for inclusion ever created. It can enable real-time captioning for deaf and hard of hearing persons, intelligent navigation system for blind and partially sighted persons, personalized learning platform for students with disabilities, and communication technologies that expand participation and independence for millions of people around the world. I would add further, if I'm going to believe Elon Musk, then within one year, every blind person in the world is going to see, and everyone with spinal cord injury like myself is going to walk. I'm counting the time. AI can help remove barriers that have excluded persons with disabilities for generations. It can open doors to education, employment, healthcare, civic engagement, and social participation. If designed inclusively, AI can become a powerful force for equality. However, technology is never neutral. Artificial intelligence systems learn from data. and data often reflect existing inequalities and biases. If persons with disabilities are absent from data sets, excluded from design processes, or ignored in policy discussion, AI risks reproducing and amplifying discrimination on an unprecedented scale. An inaccessible building excludes hundreds of people, an inaccessible algorithm can exclude millions. If recruitment systems are trained on historical patterns of exclusion, qualified persons with disabilities may be denied employment opportunities. If digital services are not designed with accessibility in mind, persons with disabilities may find themselves locked out of essential services. If AI systems are developed without meaningful participation of persons with disabilities, the future may be built without us. This is why The principle of nothing about us remain as relatively today as ever. Persons with disability must not be passive recipient of technological innovation. We must be active participant in shaping it. We must be present in research laboratories, technological companies, universities, policy making bodies, and international forum where decision about AI are being made. The future of artificial intelligence must be grounded in human rights. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides a clear framework for ensuring that innovation advances equality, dignity, autonomy, and participation. Human rights and technological progress are not competing items. Okay. The convention, yes, I got it. The mutually reinforcing foundation of sustainable development. As government and international organizations develop AI governance framework, disability inclusion must not be treated as an afterthought. Accessibility, universal design, and participation must be embedded from the beginning. The question before us is not simply whether AI will transform society. It certainly will. The real question is whether that transformation will include everyone. Will AI create new opportunities for participation or a new form of exclusion? Will it expand human rights or deepen existing inequalities? Will it recognize the diversity of humanity or narrow the definition of who matters? The answers depend on the choices we make today. So let us work together to ensure that artificial intelligence serve all people, including the more than 1 billion person with disability worldwide. Now, I have to tell you that with through artificial intelligence development, I would expect many countries to vanish in the coming future if they're not up to date with what's going on with the technology and development. And the same story will go with us if we are outside the design, work, research on artificial intelligence, 1 billion people will be also vanish and set aside. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Dr. Nayef, for these nice words and inspiring speech. Now I'd like to give the floor to Mr. Mishal Al-Naemi, Executive Director, Al-Noor Center for the Blind, to deliver his speech.

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Your Excellencies, dear colleagues, God's peace and blessings be with you. I am privileged to welcome you in this important side event, which comes at a pivotal stage in which the world witnesses important changes in education and other fields. We are pleased that this event comes under the Qatari Foundation for Social Work lead foundation, which enables the different categories of society through an integrated system and the social services. The Qatari Foundation contains nine centers in the field of social development, empowerment, nor for the blind, for those people with disability, social rehabilitation, for family consultation,. for Caring for the Elderly, Namarra to uplift development work, as well as for the orphans and the Center for Kana. It offers employment and social services to the targeted groups, in addition to the societal services part of the foundation, which work as an integral part to achieve societal empowerment. Shafallah and Al Noor Center for the Blind are specialized centers in the field of disabilities. They render education, training, and empowerment services to people with disabilities to achieve their active participation in the workplace and society. In Al Noor Center for the Blind, we look at AI and digital services as part of an integrated system designed to improve training and increase employment for those people who are blind. From this perspective, we are trying to improve the smart systems and the rehabilitation field in a way to achieve facility of access to information and to fulfill the requisites of workplace. Real employment requires link between the work opportunities, education and training, so much so that the person with disability can achieve active participation in society. Over the years, international efforts focused on the need for access to education to persons with disabilities. This is fundamental with the approach of the 20th anniversary of the CRPD. It is necessary to pose a deeper question whether these tracks have managed to achieve sustainable economic independence As a matter of fact, many persons with disabilities, despite their acquiring education and training, they are facing real hardships in engaging in active economic activities. This is related to the design of the systems themselves. In many cases, we deal with employment, rehabilitation, education as separate fields. As a matter of fact, reality in life is different. The person does not move from education to work. Rather, he needs a continuous and progressive course that guarantees independence. Hence, our vision, the real challenge is not preparing persons to adapt to the systems, rather redesigning the systems to absorb human variety. AI opens up new opportunities that should be looked at. Realistically, AI is not a magic formula, and it cannot substitute the real rehabilitation and human input. It is a real tool. It is a good tool when it is used correctly. Through stream lighting, the task is supporting the individual efforts as well as narrowing the gaps that impede economic participation. Technology should be evaluated by enhancing the dignity of men and his real participation in society. We are in need of scalable participation and international theories that help build more sustainable systems. In conclusion, we hope that this side event will help us exchange experience and strengthen the rights of persons with disabilities and participate full participation in socio-economic life. I would like to thank all of you for your presence and I'm looking forward to fruitful discussions. God's peace and blessings be on you.

Thank you, Mr. Michel, for this valuable speech. And now we would like to engage in the dialogue. There are six minutes for each participant. And a question will be posed and the answer will be coming. The main part of the session, we will listen to a variety of experiences on Changing from education to real participation for persons with disabilities, particularly in light of the AI. I would like to welcome Mrs. Fatma Al-Khammimi, Director of Family Support and Psychological Counseling Department, Al-Shafallah Center for Persons with Disabilities. From your experience in supporting the family and persons with disabilities, how can AI back more transitional, more effective moves from education to employing those people with disabilities? Autism.

Thank you for the question. First thing I would like to say that AI can achieve real transition from education to employment. The conventional trend from to individual tracks that adapt to the needs of each person. With regard to persons with mental and autism, disabilities, AI can help the professional and professional activities and it will allocate the educational field and link the persons with the suitable employments and this will help them tap sustainable work opportunities. Technology itself is not enough. AI should be applied correctly and persons with disabilities, stakeholders and employers must take part in that. In the Shafallah, we look at AI not as a substitute for the support systems, but a system that makes it more flexible and more adaptable to the needs. AI should help taking human decisions, not as a replacement. And when it is used comprehensively and responsibly, it should support economic participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities.

Thank you, Ms. Fatma, for these nice words. Now, I'd like to listen to Mrs. Henda Aboud, Minister for Work Affairs in Syria.

We are.

And a transition period, a difficult, painful 14 years. The percentage of people with disabilities and victims of this 17 years, all the new ideas that we can move from education to employment. If we want to create stability in our countries, we have and we receive in real peace, there must be education, and there must be employment. Nobody should be outside this context. And I admire those from the United Arab Emirates who have the will. The will. We are the ones that are suffering, but we learn from you, from our neighbors and our brothers, the Arabs. Employment is the key to stability for the future. 27% of the Syrian people cannot remain without jobs. This leads to instability. Since we started with the stage in the ministry, we have sought that nobody should be left behind. In our new vision, they can all participate. All the meetings, we have sign language. We try to mobilize all our colleagues that when they work, there must be someone all qualified so that people with disabilities have access. We do everything possible, and we learn from you. This exchange of experiences is important. We thank our colleague, our dear colleague, who came to us once or twice to help us to learn from experience, experience the stages of transition. We learn from colleagues. And please be patient with us because we are passing through a difficult stage. And As much as we look forward to your ambitions and hope, we believe that there is nothing impossible, there is nothing difficult, and I thank you for hosting us.

We are the ones to thank you, Your Excellency, especially your presence with us and enriching us with these kind words. We are with the Syrian Arab Republic, with all our hearts, all the Arab and Muslim Countries, all countries of the world, stand united with Syria and to people with disabilities, whether they be in Syria or. Our moderator, speaker,. to the experience, practical experience from the state of Qatar. Mohammed is the Braille training specialist at the Noor Center for the Blind in Qatar. How can the solutions supported by AI to distribute working employment chances?

Thank you, brother Shahin. I will switch to English.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Throughout my field of experience in the training and rehabilitation of people with disabilities, I believe one of the most important topics we should discuss today is how we understand artificial intelligence, AI, and how we integrate it into education, rehabilitation, and employment pathways. Very often when AI is mentioned, people immediately think applications such as ChatGPT, Gemini, chatbot, which is not. In reality, AI is much broader and more sophisticated than that. Today, AI is integrated into the thing we use now. Image and text recognition systems, speech-to-text and text-to-speech technologies, intelligence navigation system for people who are blind or visually impaired. job performance analysis tools, real-time translation systems, which I see some of my friends here using it, training needs prediction and assessment, the design of flexible and inclusive work environments, and even the simplification of complex workplace tasks. Center for the Blind, we are actively working to integrate artificial intelligence and assistive technology into our educational rehabilitation and training services. AI powers are used to describe images and visual content for visuals who are blind or visually impaired, convert text and images into speech or braille, which braille display, braille text, and support independence learning mobility People don't know that we use technology and mobility too when we have navigation. Be my eye, see and AI, we use a lot of information for that. And we have some tools for cane, some intelligence cane that they have Bluetooth. Some of them you can actually give them the address and they will guide you too. But that doesn't mean we can use them immediately. We have to have the skills for it first. And also access to information more efficiently and accurately. Now, We are also working to incorporate these technologies into vocational training and rehabilitation programs to enhance independence and increase educational and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. It is equally important to distinguish between artificial intelligence and the smart software. The smart softwares we use them for a long time right now. AI is going to the field in different directions and we can use AI the way we want to help our clients and support them. Assistive technology that have existed for many years. They've been there for a long time. We used them for a while. Some of them, they have some enhancement, which is good, and now they integrate AI into them, and we need to know how we can use them for people with disabilities, especially with visual impairment and blind. This is what we do in the Norwegian Centre for the Blind. Within the disability field, we have long utilized technologies. I know you may have heard about OCRs, which is recognition voice to text, and they can actually screen readers. So the difference today is that AI is no longer a static tool that simply execute a predefined command. It can learn, recognize pattern, adapt to users, and personalize content and training based on individual abilities and actual needs. For example, if you use ChatGPT for Arabic Braille, they cannot help you. The reason why, because there is no much data in Arabic language in it. So technically, if you use it in English, you are in a good hands. But if you try to use it in Arabic, there is none. So that's why we sit and we train that chat for a long time to learn how to use Arabic Braille so we can actually train it. This brings us to what is considered fundamental point. We should not separate education, training, and employment. Unfortunately, many systems will treat these stages as independent from one another. Most of the time, we have the training first, then you learn the skills, then you go to job readiness, then you go look for a job. And then when you go look for a job, and many of us who went to college will know that, you go to college, you get your degree, the first thing they tell you, don't think you can use your degree to go to work immediately. So what I was doing for four years, oh, we're just preparing you. But when you go to your job, they said, okay, forgot what you learned. We're going to train you now. So you spend six to a year or two years just to learn the new job. So if we can integrate the three of them from the beginning, and that's why we have vocational rehabilitation services. So you have the student or the client from the beginning. What is your direction, what you want to be? and keep asking these questions. Then after that, when he said, "Oh, I want to be a lawyer." Good. So to be a lawyer, you need to understand how to communicate. You need to know what is the qualification to be a lawyer. What is the degree? How you go to college? Then you put it all in his mind from the beginning. So when he graduates from your centers to college, Job readiness is already knows what's going on. And that's what actually do, they understand what they do most of the time. That's what they call a job readiness, which is very important because most of the time we forgot about the job until we finish everything. Then at the end, oh, I forgot to ask you what you want to be. I've spent 10, 15, 20 years with you and now you're asking what I want to be. It should be from the beginning so we can integrate all the information together. So if a student wishes to pursue a career in design, customer service, programming, training, media, or any other fields, there should be an integrated system from the outset that connects academic skills and independent living and life skills, practical and vocational training, assistive technology, real world experience, real world work experience. Because most of the time people have this fantasy idea about work, but when they're faced with reality, you see most of the time they will go back, like, "Oh, I cannot do it. Why? Because I didn't know it's going to be like this." So from the beginning, we can have job shadows, and we take them to the places they want to work at. For example, I want to work for the Ministry of Defense. Okay, let's go there. And you can take them to these places, see what they do and how they work, what is recommendations for you. Then when they come outside, you can ask them, like, what do you think right now? Do you still want to do this? Like, yes, I want to do it. Okay, then this is a recommendation.

This is a requirement for it.

Okay, sorry about that. Okay, I will finish here. However, the success of all this innovation depends on the existence of comprehensive vision. We need to have the right vision from the beginning with early education, continuous through rehabilitation and skills development, and ultimately leads to economic participation, independence, and full inclusion in society. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mohamed, for this valuable intervention. and a thoroughgoing response to the query that was inclusive. We move to the international and regional dimension, Mrs. Salmiha Abdullah, IAN coordinator of training and technical cooperation and such. through your work with OIC members, what are the efforts deployed by OIC to promote economic inclusion of persons with disabilities?

Thank you very much, Mr. Shahin, in the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. God's peace and blessings be on you. On behalf of CESRIC, the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Center for Islamic Countries. I would like to mention some inputs and efforts by the center. I would like also to share with you some of the good practices on the use of digital digital transformation. I would like to extend our sincere thanks to the coordinators, the permanent mission of Qatar and the Qatar Foundation. Time is of the essence, and I'd like to be very brief, and I will be glad to answer any question in Arabic or in English. At the outset, I would like to mention some data on the situation of persons with disabilities globally and OIC in analyzing the formation. 1.3 billion people are suffering from one part of disability. One of six persons is living with disability. These are disturbing statistics when we take into consideration that 80% of those people live in the developing countries, including countries of OIC. Disability is an impediment to many persons throughout the world. It prevents them from accessing education and work, as well as full participation in their societies, including social activities. Globally, International initiatives and campaigns have been launched, such as the CRPD, as well as strategies inside OIC countries to face these countries. The Ministerial Conference on Social Development is the main pillar that deals with the affairs of PwDs. disability, as well as the elderly and family affairs. The second social conference held in Cairo in 2023 under the motto of social justice, this urged intensification of cooperation on this score. It depends on the adoption of the plan of action of OIC. CISREC is the main party that prepared this plan of action at the level of the organization. This document is a structural framework to specify the dimensions of PwDs and the Member States. I will focus on the main strategy, particularly two main points. Before I do that, I wish to mention also that there are frameworks by OIC that collate with these efforts. The work market of OIC and the youth organization, the plan of action of OIC to promote women and the strategic program of action in the field of health. I am proud that CISRIC is one of the main pillars in preparing these reports. These documents discuss a variety of efforts, caring for PwDs, employing the youth, et cetera. These frameworks emphasize the need to increase social security as well as assistive services and the participation of PwDs and social life. I would like to dwell on the work of OIC for PwC. It contains six points. Education and economic inclusion is one of these six points. First of all, education, many PwDs are not in schools. In addition to being disabled, they do not enjoy education opportunities in many developing countries, as well as some of our members. Most of our states should reconsider the educational requirements which are changing for PWDs, and those PWDs should be supplied with the necessary requirements and efforts, and this requires allocating additional financial funds to uplift and upgrade the education programs. In addition to education, I would like briefly to touch on the economic situation as part of this document, and I would like to shed light on the following. PWDs are on the rise with the pass of time, given the increasing life span and the development witnessed in OIC members. And some of our countries started to face financial pressures because of that. On the other hand, we know that those persons can tangibly contribute to socio-economic development through participation in the workplace if they have the right opportunities. Active participation, of course, will achieve their socio-economic welfare. One minute, I would like to clarify that this document exists on the CISREC link and we can study the detailed points about the steps to be taken by OIC members to enhance these two fields. In conclusion, I would like to say that CISREC Center, one of the main action is training among the OIC countries, and we follow the South-South cooperation. As Her Excellency mentioned, the needs of Syria and other countries, we are pleased to share the experiences of the states that achieved development with the other states that need these activities. Thank you very much, and God's peace and blessings be with you.

Thank you very much, Mrs. Samiha.

Sherkun.

Sherkun. Sherkun.

Sherkun. Shirkun. Shirkun. Shirkun. Shirkun. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank رح نستكمل مع ضيفنا الرابع ان شاء الله الحديث ننتقل الان الى المنظور منظور السياسات وسوق العمل مع ضيفنا الكريم السيد ياسين With the reorganization of artificial intelligence for the future of work, what are the necessary steps to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in the emerging job market?

Thank you. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Let me start, obviously, by acknowledging the growing partnership between the Qatar Social Work Foundation and its member organizations in advancing economic inclusion and entrepreneurship opportunities. But having listened to the conversation so far, I certainly couldn't agree more with the education, skills, and job readiness agenda, with the inclusion and equity agenda, what the Madam Minister mentioned in terms of the centrality of employment and in leaving no one behind, but also in supporting countries build back better. And obviously, the discussion we're having today on the impact of AI particularly in the world of work, has been high on the agenda for the ILO for many years. We have published a recent report, but also various reports in conjunction with various institutions on the impact of AI in the world of work. And we've established an artificial intelligence observatory for the UN system, which has organized, among others, a number of webinars and talks with top experts. to try to ensure that we engender this issue in the UN common system in support of member states, in support of our tripartite members. And we've just recently published a report from the ILO's Director General, which is focused on artificial intelligence. And this report has been presented in the International Labour Conference, which is taking place as we speak. And the report refers to a policy brief that was published last year, focuses on AI, and particularly on the employment of persons with disabilities. Within the framework of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network, we have addressed the issue of AI for a number of years. The initial focus was the concern, which is obviously still relevant today, that AI-based recruitment software would discriminate against many persons with disabilities. For example, persons with facial disfigurement, autistic persons, and persons with visual impairment certainly would not interact with a camera in the expected way and would often be excluded from recruitment processes. Another concern which we've raised in the context of women is the over-representation of persons with disabilities in those jobs that are more at risk of automation. On a more positive note, we have seen many examples of persons with disabilities, including those self-identifying as neurodivergent, who have shared the positive impact that many of the AI-based tools have had on their employment opportunities. Tools that provide automatic captioning, for example, tools that summarize long texts, whether those are the chatbots that we spoke about earlier, tools that support editing, tools that obviously certainly support a lot of the work that's carried out, to name a few, which are useful for everybody, but especially useful for persons with disabilities. And as we've noted in our Director General's report, it will depend obviously on all of stakeholders to ensure that we make the most of the opportunities provided by AI and the limit and certainly limit the challenges. This also applies to the impact of artificial intelligence on the employment opportunities of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities certainly need to be involved in the development of AI-based tools, as Dr. Kabbara had mentioned, from the outset to ensure that they are free from bias and can be used to promote disability inclusion, for instance, by embedding universal design, accessibility, and individualized workplace accommodations. This requires that persons with disabilities have the AI and digital skills, as was noted earlier, needed to actively participate in the AI related research and development, as well as in the practical use of AI based tools. It also requires targeted action to close the digital divide faced by persons with disabilities and in particular, women with disabilities. Furthermore, organisations of persons with disabilities need to be part in all relevant legal and ethical discussions on AI that are happening at the national, regional, and certainly at the international level. The reality is that the future of work needs to be inclusive of persons with disabilities, and I go back to Madam Minister's comments about leaving no one behind to ensure that a future of work that works for everyone. I'll stop there. Thank you so much.

I thank Mr. Yassin for this inspiring intervention and for his brevity. Before we move to the questions of the participants, I would like to table a question to all the speakers to make one recommendation for policymakers in the world to expedite from education to the inclusion. We start with Mrs. Fatima.

The recommendation is engaging PWDs and decision taking with regard to the use of AI programs. we may find ourselves after some time suffering from a gap, having called for the rights of PWDs, trying to engage them in labor work and extend rehabilitation and training programs with the increasing dependency on AI. we can face a wide gap that is the complete solitude of PWDs. AI is a double-edged sword or weapon and it can be useful for the comprehensive evaluation and training programs. However, if we use AI programs For example, for those suffering from autism, if they spend the entire day before the screens of AI, this is another segregation we impose on them. In addition to that, the AI programs, if they are meant to replace men and jobs, the first category to be replaced is PWDs and they are the vulnerable group. We call to be ready so that we do not go into this gap again.

Thank you very much for this valuable evaluation, Mrs. Zahra. If you Give us one recommendation, we will be thankful.

How we learn, how we work, how we communicate, how we receive and how we participate in the society. But we also know that technological change is not come together with the social progress. So this is not all the time complementary to each other. The real question before us is not whether AI will transform society, but I think the real question should be, will persons with disabilities help shape that transformation, or will they once again be expected to adopt the transformation designed without them? So whether while we are going this transformation of AI, whether we will include persons with disabilities or not. So it is actually about redesigning the opportunity itself. So I want to argue that redesigning transition pathways is not simply about improving services, but it is also improving the opportunities. And when we see that, like the team or the panel is like from education to economic participation, traditionally we see that transition pathways for the persons with disabilities have focused between stages, like from education to employment, employment to retirement, but this means that the pathways have often been fragmented. but what should be not, it should be a continuous, not fragmented stages for better include disability people. So because too frequently individuals with disabilities encounter disconnected services between the life stages, rigid educational models, and the AI actually gives us a kind of opportunity to have some personalized educational systems. So AI, as she It's a double-edged sword, so it has opportunities in itself, but also it also has new risks. So what we can do for all of us, for policymakers, actually, the better way is that we should think about our are existing assumptions. So governments must rethink about what is policy. Educators should think about what is learning, what is teaching in the age of AI. Employers, like the ILO stated, must rethink about what is the labor force, what is work, whether we need such long hours, what is workforce workplace environment. And technology companies must rethink about design, and I think all of us, the researchers, must rethink about data and evidence. So I think while transforming, I can suggest that first we should think about our previous existing assumptions, whether it should be valid for the future, and secondly, we should have persons with disability on the same boat, not without them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mohammed.

My colleagues here mentioned, Her Excellency, it's very important to understand this. We cannot take them apart. From the beginning, we need to understand what they want to be, what they are aiming for. So from the beginning, we can understand how to integrate this information to them from early ages, because when they grow up, they go to kindergarten, then they go to school, then middle school, then high school, and they have no idea what's going on. Then they go to college, and it still is college life. After college life, it's like, what's going on? It's work. Reality hits. So I think from the beginning, we need to make sure that the programs we have in our centers, especially for people with disabilities, we need from the beginning to understand what they want to be and how they're going to get there. And I think we can make programs designed and tailored to each student independently, even though we have the education system, but that's good, but we can add it to it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mohammed.

Mr. Haseen.

Disability policy should move beyond welfare and protection. approaches and focus much more on ensuring that persons with disabilities can obtain, retain, and certainly advance in employment on an equal footing, an equal basis with others. And given that we are in the course for this week, and that we are in the house of member states, I think certainly it makes sense to talk about recommendations for member states to consider, particularly in terms of committing to making disability inclusion a core objective of economic policy making by ensuring that persons with disabilities can be fully included in labour markets, as was stated before, in skill systems, as was stated before, in digital transformation and certainly the green transition, for example. I think making sure that this is much more part and parcel of economic policy making is a very important element for Member States certainly to consider. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yassin, for this brief recommendation. I'd like to open the floor for any questions for five minutes if you have any question or query to the panelists. Today's discussion has indicated that challenge is not confined to providing educational training, but guaranteeing economic participation by PWDs. International partnership and supportive and assistive services are very important practical means for empowerment and independence. I would like to extend our thanks to all the participants and the panelists and we hope that the outcome of this meeting will lead to more sustainable outputs. I wish you fertile and rich meeting. Thank you. God's peace and blessings be on you.