Dubai opens new shelter for abused children - GulfToday

Dubai opens new shelter for abused children

child abuse

DFWAC allotted a new Children's Villa to house victims of violence

DUBAI: The Dubai Foundation for Women and Children, DFWAC, initiated today a new Children's Villa, sponsored by HSBC, to house victims of violence and exploitation of children up to 12 years of age, who have no parents or dependents.

Ahmed Bin Darwish Al Muhairi, Chairman of DFWAC and Afra Al Basti, Director-General of DFWAC, NFC Member, initiated the new building at the Foundation’s headquarters in Dubai, with the participation of Abdulfattah Sharaf, CEO, HSBC UAE, and Ali Al Mutawa, Secretary-General of Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Awqaf and Endowment.

The new children’s villa includes more than 20 rooms, with the capacity to accommodate 25 children, a 24 hours supervision as well as nannies providing all forms of support for children, supervisors and a psychologist.

The villa also provides a social worker and a nurse to follow up on the children’s development regularly and develop intervention and rehabilitation plans for each child.

The children's villa is designed to meet the best international standards in terms of choosing colours, furniture and decoration, and to align with the children's biological, psychological, social and developmental needs, and provide a rich environment that stimulates the child's senses and imagination.

The villa is divided into two wings, one for infants and children at pre-school age, and the other for children of school age up to 12 years. The wings include bedrooms, classrooms, functional rooms, play area, living rooms, kitchens, stores, toilets, offices Administrative, rooms for supervisors and jams, reception area, nursing rooms and laundry rooms.

The construction of the villa took about a year, funded by HSBC who donated US$1 million to build this villa, and to support DFWAC to provide care and protection for the victims of violence of women and children.

Al Muhairi said that the foundation highly appreciates the support provided by the Bank of HSBC, noting that this new achievement of the opening of the children's villa would not have been possible without the support of the bank and its keenness to contribute to the consolidation of the stability and development of the UAE community.

Afra Al Basti, Director-General of DFWAC, said that the foundation is constantly developing its services to keep up with the best international practices, in line with the UAE's and its wise leadership, to achieve excellence and leadership in all fields. And opening this villa is a major step in this context.


Ali Al Mutawa, Secretary-General of Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Awqaf and Endowment, said, "The concerted efforts of the public and private sectors contribute to the strengthening of the community safety and support the goal of achieving annual growth in humanitarian work.

WAM