QADER and the Ministry of Social Development Launch a Capacity Development Program for Institutions Working with Children with Disabilities

Last week, QADER for Community Development and the Ministry of Social Development launched a comprehensive and specialized capacity development program targeting institutions and centers that provide services to children with disabilities—particularly those with intellectual disabilities. The launch took place at the Angel Hotel in Bethlehem.

The program aims to strengthen the professional capacities of staff members working in organizations and centers that provide direct services to children with intellectual disabilities across all governorates of the West Bank. It includes a series of tailored training packages designed based on the recommendations of the “Technical Team for Developing Quality Standards for Assessing the Cognitive Abilities of Children”.

The implementation of this program comes within the framework of the Ministry of Social Development’s efforts, in partnership with QADER, to enhance the quality of services provided to children with intellectual disabilities. The Ministry has conducted national consultations that led to the formation of a specialized technical team on services for children with intellectual disabilities. This team supported the process of developing the Quality Standards Manual, which the Ministry of Social Development will officially adopt and launch in the coming period.

As part of the program’s implementation, a specialized two-day training workshop titled “Fundamentals of Diagnosing the Cognitive Abilities of Children” was held on October 25 and 26, 2025, facilitated by clinical psychologist Dr. Youad Ghanadri Hakim. The workshop was attended by 26 professionals from organizations and centers in the Bethlehem and Hebron governorates working in the field of assessing children with intellectual disabilities.

The workshop focused on unifying knowledge and concepts related to intellectual disabilities, understanding the ethics of diagnostic processes, identifying the diagnostic tools agreed upon in Palestine, preparing diagnostic reports and their various components, and linking diagnostic and assessment processes.

It is worth noting that the implementation of this capacity development program for organizations working with children with disabilities is part of the second phase of the project “Enhancing the Quality of Services and Protection Measures for Persons with Disabilities in Palestine”, implemented by QADER in partnership with Caritas Germany and with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development BMZ.