DUBAI, UAE, June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Manar Al Hamadi is now the first ever blind female UAE national to receive an internationally recognised certificate from the UK-based Institute of Leadership and Management in the Arab World. This feat adds to her extensive list of achievements, which includes several awards, and certification in English, Brail, Speed reading and retention, Home Economics, NLP, VIGNE 2, How to be Successful in Business, Modern Strategies in HRM, Total Customer Service, Distinguished Trainer Award, Emotional Intelligence, as well as many other government-run training programmes related to her full-time position as public servant.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120620/538380 )

She can also claim the honour of being the first blind woman to graduate from the University of Sharjah. Manar has been honoured for her contributions to the improvement of living environments for the blind, through her work with Al Thiqa Club for the blind, the University of Dubai, Dubai Immigration Department, and UAE University .

Manar was handed her certificate by the Director General of ILM and City & Guilds when he visited the UAE this week. "I am incredibly impressed with what Manar has been able to achieve and this is a great testament and example of how disabilities should not prevent people from achieving their learning," said Chris Jones, Director General of ILM and City & Guilds. "I would strongly encourage anyone in a position of leadership or management to consider taking an ILM qualification. By investing in management development, organisations can ensure that their leaders are confident in their abilities and able to lead through the challenging times ahead. Nurturing effective leaders through management development is a cost-effective investment for any organisation."

Manar was thrilled with her achievement, and said that she "gained a lot of skills and knowledge about how to become an effective trainer, a skill I am planning to use in training fellow visually impaired people in conducting their affairs in a world equipped for sighted people.

"Initially, I faced some challenges, particularly when the instruction for the 'Train the Trainer' programme was conducted using 'Power Point'.

However the instructor from Manarat Training Centre, an ILM- recognised provider, Mr. Hussain Al Najjar, made the extra effort of explaining the content of the slides and went out of his way to simplify it so that I could benefit as much as my sighted colleagues did. I have also to give credit to my colleagues in the same training cohort who gave me lots of support considering that I have not met them before and for that I thank them," said Manar.

Manar is always already preparing for her next challenge. She presented a working paper in Al Manal Conference, which was held in Sharjah between 21-23 May and dealt mainly with the handicapped and social media. She is delivering a paper entitled 'Social Media for the blind: between reality and ambition'.

SOURCE City and Guilds Middle East