MPs approve amendments strengthening protections for persons with disabilities

TDT | Manama

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Parliament unanimously approved yesterday a decree-law amending Bahrain’s 2006 law on the care, rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities, with changes that recast the committee responsible for disability affairs and tidy up terms used across the statute.

Decree-Law No. 34 of 2025 amends Law No. 74 of 2006.

The text says the aim is to update the legal framework, support the dignity and rights of persons with disabilities, and help secure their full and effective part in different areas of life on the same footing as others.

Support

MP Basema Mubarak told MPs that families were still searching for basic support.

“Behind every person with a disability is a father or mother fighting every day for the right school, a rehabilitation centre, and a job that protects their son or daughter’s dignity,” she said.

She urged MPs to focus on work. “We are talking about 325 people only out of about 13,000, a very small number, but they have skills, real desire to work, and the ability to produce if they get the chance,” she said. She added: “This group is not asking for pity or special favours; it is asking for its right to rehabilitation, its right to work, and a decent life.”

Lawmaking

Dr Maryam Al Dhaen framed the debate as a duty of lawmaking.

“Talking about persons with disabilities is talking about the heart of social justice, and our lawmaking duty towards a core group of citizens,” she said. She added that barriers often sit outside the person.

“The challenge is not the disability itself, but the legal, organisational and environmental barriers that narrow their chances in education, training and work,” she said.

Provisions

The decree-law rewrites the provisions governing the committee concerned with disability affairs.

Under the amended articles, the committee is created by a decision of the Prime Minister and follows the ministry, with that decision fixing the committee’s name, its make-up and how long members serve.

It is chaired by the Minister of Social Development and includes government representatives at director level or above, alongside representatives from the private sector.