Large mass wedding held in Abu Dhabi to help people with special needs get married

The wedding was held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Zayed Al Nahyan, honourary president of the Al Tawasel Center for Training and Counseling.

The women's wedding ceremony was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi with HH Sheikha Latifa in attendance while the men's wedding ceremony was held at the Abu Dhabi Armed Officers Club with His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in attendance.

Both weddings were funded by HH Sheikha Latifa as part of the Abu Dhabi National Campaign for Social Cohesion 2009 under the slogan, Building a Family...Building a Nation. The wedding ceremony welcomed families of the brides and grooms to each event with a large dinner and poets, bands and singers entertaining the guests for several hours.

Dr. Fatima Al Rashidi, Chairman of the organizing committee for the campaign, stated

"The wedding was the largest and first of its kind for those with special needs and promoted the goals of the campaign in raising awareness about people with special needs in society and invest in the resources to help them engage in a stable and happy family life."

Dr. Fatima Al Rashidi praised Sheikha Fatima for her support and patronage as well as her gracious financial assistance with the wedding, bearing an expense that many of the married couples could not afford and helping them to contribute to forming families that will support and strengthen the social fabric of the nation, saying: "The generous assistance is in harmony and in line with the goals of the National Campaign for Social Cohesion and is greatly appreciated by all parties and we hope to hold many mass weddings of this kind in the next year."

Youssef Al Housani, Chairman of the wedding's organizing company, praised HH Sheikha Latifa for cultivating the fruits of a wise policy for the nation and aiding the leadership of all sectors involved to promote a positive image of marriage and families.

In each of the two ceremonies held, all brides and grooms received wedding gifts donated by Damas. Ahmed Judat, Regional Director of Damas in the UAE presented the gift to the grooms while Dr. Fatima Al Rashidi presented them to the brides.

The Abu Dhabi National Campaign for Social Cohesion 2009 aims to build a community that cherishes the value of maintaining family stability, reduce the incidence of divorce and family disintegration, educate newly married couples to meet the challenges affecting marital stability and give couples the skills to solve marital conflicts. One of the main aims of the campaign is to guide couples through the dissemination of programs to increase awareness of, cultural, social and family for all groups of society.

The campaign is sponsored by many governmental and private organizations including Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, Abu Dhabi Municipality, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, Pyramedia, Al Jawda Association and many other supporting and media sponsors.