UAE ministry raises awareness on child abuse

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

As part of its awareness initiatives about “Wadeema” Child Rights Federal Law and the programme “I Do Not Accept,” the Ministry of Community Development implements a number of awareness workshops in collaboration with the libraries of Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, with the aim of educating children about their rights and duties and protecting them from abuse in all its forms.

The "I Do Not Accept" programme, which targets children aged 3 to 10 years, focuses on teaching children how not to accept abuse and the appropriate means that children can resort to if they are exposed to any kind of abuse using innovative methods of communication depending on using the appropriate methods that attract children at this age.

The programme uses an electronic system in which a variety of questions are asked to benefit from the children’s feedback and information and at the same time correct misconceptions among children.

This year's workshops also focus on several topics, most notably: child family rights, health rights, educational rights, cultural rights, protection, child duties on others, and contact numbers with relevant authorities in any case of abuse. The Ministry of Community Development is very keen to disseminate the culture of children's rights in the community by linking awareness workshops to the child rights law “Wadeema” and its executive regulations to promote awareness and create positive societal attitudes and behaviour towards child rights at various levels such as: entities, family and community members.

These workshops adopt key pillars aimed at clarifying the measures to protect the child rights and the appropriate ways of implementing them, introducing the responsibilities of all authorities that are applying child rights law, and clarifying the early intervention methods to reduce risk factors and their impact on the child and his/her family.

“Wadeema” Child Rights Law stipulates several basic provisions including all regulations pertaining to the child rights such as: the right of the child to life, welfare, expenditure and healthcare services, the involvement of the child in various programmes and activities that enhance his personality and enable him gain the needed skills to overcome all concerns and challenges, the prohibition of all forms of violence in educational institutions and protection of children from exploitation or abuse. The law also included child protection rights by establishing child protection units in coordination with the competent authorities based on the applicable regulations and laws.