A magazine seeking to raise awareness about the issues facing visually impaired Arabs is set to be published in Bahrain, said the president of Arab Union for the Blind.

Eshraqt Al Etihad, which will feature special editions in the Braille language, will focus on issues of daily concern such as health, children, home and food, said Dr Khalid Al Nuaimi.

"This will be a magazine uniting the issues that face blind people in the Arab World," he added. "It will address their problems and focus on their concerns.”

The Information and Culture Ministry has agreed to cover the costs of printing the magazine, according to a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

Dr Al Nuaimi stressed the need to raise awareness of the plight of people with special needs.

"The way people view the disabled in general and the blind in particular needs to be changed," he said.

"People with a visual disability have reached (high) ranks and got certificates for their accomplishments."

Dr Al Nuaimi revealed the union was working on a proposal to conduct a survey about the number of visually impaired people in each Arab country and their conditions.

It is also hoping to get sponsorship from the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) for the project.

"According to the latest UN survey, the number of visually impaired Arab citizens in the region was around 35 million last year," he said.

"We need specific numbers for each country and their conditions to be able to plan better for them."

Dr Al Nuaimi was in Bahrain to discuss projects of the union with Friendship Society for the Blind president Hussain Al Hulaibi, who is also president of the Arab Union's public relations committee.

Al Hulaibi stressed that the magazine would focus on topics written by Arab writers and will be edited and published in Bahrain.

Companies and organisations will be given the chance to advertise in the magazine for a fee.

"This way they support a good cause and get to advertise their company," he said.

The Doha-based Arab Union is also planning to set up a website to promote its activities and duties.

Established in August 2007, it aims to protect the rights of the visually impaired and raise awareness of their needs and has implemented several projects to assist the blind such as printing human resources laws and Qatar's constitution in Braille. – TradeArabia News Service