ME NewsWire

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - Wednesday, December 17th 2014

The Ministry of Interior’s Child Protection Center organized a training campaign that included all government and private schools in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The campaign, which was organized in collaboration and partnership with Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), aims at spreading awareness about ways to protect children against abuse and neglect.

As a part of the program, free training was provided for one representative per school from the 444 schools registered with ADEC. In the first stage, training included the emirate’s 189 private schools.

The topics included in the course’s agenda focus on child abuse and neglect; Child Protection Law and Criminal Law; child victims’ support; identifying risks against children, and reporting suspected child abuse and negliect.

Dr. Amal Al Qubaisi, Director General of ADEC and member of the Executive Council, hailed the valuable collaboration, and mutual coordination with the MOI Child Protection Center in implementing this initiative.

She said, “Providing the ideal and appropriate environment to allow our children to acquire education and knowledge at school is the main objective of ADEC. ADEC is keen on providing the best environment for all students, in government and private schools and across all academic stages. Students spend more time at school than anywhere else. Therefore, it is mandatory to provide them with all aspects of safety and security. Support for children can either be physical by ensuring a suitable infrastructure or moral, by providing the utmost care and attention.”

Adding further, she noted, “We are aware that parents have full confidence in the valuable role of schools’ administrative and faculty staff. In order to live up to these high expectations, ADEC strives to support all those who work in the educational field, especially psychologists and social workers, who are highly qualified to deal with abused  or neglected children in schools, homes or in the community.  They would try to identify the reasons associated with the problem at hand and provide the appropriate case-related solutions and treatment, in addition to fostering constant communication with children’s parents.

Dr. Al Qubaisi also extended her thanks to the MOI Child Protection Center for supporting and sponsoring  the initiative, which  aims at building potential and providing skills and expertise that strengthen community efforts in the protection of children against all kind of risks; ‘because children represent a category that receive significant attention from our wise government,’ she said.

For his part, Major General Nasser Lakhrebani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of H.H Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior, stressed that boosting the capacities of the Ministry of Interior's partners in all aspects of child protection reinforces the efforts to preventing child abuse and neglect in the UAE.

He also called upon all individuals working in child care to perform their duties to the fullest in terms of identifying and reporting any suspected signs of abuse against children, especially those who work with or are in close contact with children. He said, “Workers in child care are key partners in the prevention and protection processes; this underscores the importance of collaboration and concerted efforts between all partners to achieve continuous improvement in this area.”

Major General Al Nuaimi also called upon parents to protect their children against any kind of psychological and physical abuse.  He underscored the importance of providing children with family care and emotional support, to produce a healthy society, free of social problems that could compromise its security and stability.

In his speech at the training program’s opening ceremony, Major Dr. Mohammed Khalifa Al Ali, Director of the MoI Child Protection Centre asserted the importance of setting clear policies and procedures to protect children in schools and report any suspected child abuse cases. He reiterated the MoI Child Protection Center’s readiness to cooperate with the concerned entities to report any suspected abuse against children in schools or in the community. In conclusion, he indicated that the training course provides a practical example of such collaboration.

It is worth mentioning that the course is moderated by a number of trained and qualified lecturers from various police departments, notably the Social Support Centers Department and the Law Respect Culture Bureau. The 15-hour intensive course aims at establishing the main concepts for child protection against abuse and neglect, and to enhance safety and security of all children in the UAE.

After completing the course, trainees are expected to act as child protection officers within their schools. They will report any suspected signs of child abuse, assault, or neglect and will work on spreading the culture of child protection across their schools and communities.

For more information about:

The Ministry of Interior, please click HERE

Abu Dhabi Police, please click HERE

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The Arabic-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the Arabic-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.

Contacts

The UAE Minister of Interior's General Secretariat, Tactical Affairs and Security Media Department

Abu Dhabi Police GHQ - Security Media

Chris Cron +971-(0)-50-987-1317

E-mail: cron.media@hotmail.com

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