Bahrain Islamic Bank Gold Sponsor of International Children's Behaviour Difficulties Conference

The move confirms the Bank's belief in the principle of effective participation between the private and public sectors and the need to play its national, religious and humanitarian duties.

In a statement, Mr. Khalid Alkhayat, BIsB Manager Corporate Communications said:

"We are pleased to announce today our golden sponsorship of this international conference that is the first of its kind about children's behaviour and communication difficulties in Bahrain and is organized by Alia Early Intervention Centre. We strongly support all the activities of the Centre in collaboration with the Bahrain Society for Children with Behaviour and Communication Difficulties."

"I have recently been honoured to get acquainted with the Centre's activities and its care for needy children when I accompanied the Bank's chief Executive Mr. Yousuf Saleh Khalaf during his visit of the Centre. At that time, the Bank made a contribution to the Centre by meeting the private schooling costs for one year for a child suffering from autism." Mr. Alkhayat added.

The Conference aims at developing and enriching scientific and professional knowledge of parents, professionals and the community in general through sessions bringing together participants and a group of international experts involved in dealing with behaviour and communication difficulties. Also specialists will give individual, diagnostic and treatment advice in their respective disciplines such as psychiatry, development paediatrics, bevaiour modification and integration methods.

"Our sponsorship of this Conference comes as a natural result of our continuous concern with children. We have already launched the BIsB Child Play Therapy Centre, which is the first specialized centre for treatment of young victims of violence. When the Centre was opened, we sponsored a specialized course organized on this occasion" he continued. "Earlier we sponsored a specialized training course designed to protect children from abuse and negligence in co-operation with the Ministry of Health and with the participation of 45 family physicians, community nurses and others." he added.

Alia Early Intervention Centre offers its educational and rehabilitation services in the mornings and afternoons to children aged between 18 months and 13 years where they experience behaviour and communication difficulties, autism or actually diagnosed as having delayed mental or physical development.

During the last five years, Bahrain Islamic Bank contributed more than BD one million in the form of donations, aid, contributions and charitable payments that made a difference in the lives of many individuals and organizations in Bahrain.