Workshop on awareness of safe environment

Jamil Khan, Senior Reporter

The Community Development Authority in Dubai (CDA) and UNICEF collaborated to organise an awareness workshop on Monday for the “Friends of Child Rights” in Dubai schools. The workshop aimed to introduce children to the issue of climate change and its impact on their right to a safe and sustainable environment. Climate change ambassadors of children and youth were present at the event.

The workshop was part of the cooperation framework between CDA and UNICEF to spread awareness of children’s rights and train qualified trainers of children and faculty members to raise awareness about these rights. The goal was to provide children with the opportunity to take their role as influencers and participants in change during Dubai’s reception of the Climate Summit (COP 28), which will be held at the end of this year at the Expo.

The workshop highlighted the importance of children’s and youth’s participation in the activities associated with the COP28 Climate Summit and their involvement in the development and implementation of climate policies and procedures. It also discussed the climate challenges faced by children and youth and ways to develop their abilities to think and contribute to protecting their rights to live in safe and sustainable environments.

Dr. Al-Sayed Muhammad Al-Hashemi, CEO, Human Rights Sector at CDA, emphasised the importance of qualifying children between the ages of 8 and 17 to understand environmental issues, particularly climate change, to allow them to participate in preserving their rights in a safe and sustainable environment. He added that it is crucial to educate children appropriately to contribute to the development of programmes, plans, and policies for climate protection. Eltayeb Adam, the UNICEF Area Representative for the Gulf, stated that climate change is a child rights crisis as it hinders the realisation of all children’s rights as stipulated in the Convention. Addressing climate change and reducing its impacts are essential to protecting the world’s children and fulfilling their rights. Children and youth are essential partners in this work. Dubai Municipality distributed seedlings to children on the sidelines of the workshop to enhance their awareness of the impact of afforestation on environmental sustainability.

The workshop was held in Umm Suqeim Majlis, in the presence of 20 children from the “Friends of Child Rights” between 8 and 17 years old, in addition to representatives of educational institutions and a number of officials of CDA. This initiative is one of the aspects of cooperation between CDA and UNICEF related to promoting awareness of children’s rights, and building the capacities of children and those dealing with them to protect and defend them.