Emirates Foundation launches Child Safety Week

Emirates Foundation, an independent philanthropic organisation set up by the Abu Dhabi government to facilitate public-private funded initiatives to improve the welfare of youth across the UAE, announced today the launch of the first of its kind ‘Child Safety Week’ across the UAE.

Held under the theme of ‘Child Safety First’, the Child Safety week is set to take place between Nov 17-22 across all Emirates.

Commenting on the progress of the Campaign, Maytha Al Habsi, Deputy CEO of Emirates Foundation said, "We are extremely delighted that the national Child Safety Campaign has achieved its targets in record time. Our efforts will continue to expand the Campaign’s public awareness outreach to remote and low population density areas across the UAE. The aim is to raise public awareness, highlight child safety methods, and mobilize coordinated efforts to reduce child injuries across the UAE."

Organised as part of the national Child Safety Campaign championed by "Sanid", the Foundation’s Emergency Response Volunteer Programme, the ‘Child Safety Week’ was designed to offer parents, caregivers and children the latest tips and awareness on how to proactively protect and safeguard children from danger.

With a wide variety of interactive trainings discussions will be encouraged around child safety amongst adults, caregivers, children and older siblings, including experiential activities on child safety methods and understanding how to implement them.

Launched in October 2015, the main purpose of the nationwide Child Safety Campaign was to raise public awareness, highlight child safety methods, and mobilise coordinated efforts to reduce child injuries across the UAE.

The comprehensive campaign targeted schools, nurseries and domestic helper agencies in the UAE as well as the community at large, with a view to building high awareness through mass media and engagement through social media channels, as well as embed the knowledge and skills through training and outreach components.

Through a robust training programme, the initiative sought to empower parents, caregivers, educators and children with the knowledge and skills to prevent injuries and manage emergencies when they occur. The training was conducted on a nationwide scale, targeting adults and children and was delivered through 15 modules focusing on risk detection, injury prevention, as well as preparedness for and management of injuries.

Al Habsi praised the passion of youth volunteers who are playing a primary role in the organisation of the campaign and the Child Safety Week saying. "The Child Safety Week is a reflection of our commitment and dedication towards the safety of our children first and what is truly unique about this Campaign and this week in particular, is that it is a youth-driven project from inception to execution. In other words, it is truly a grassroots initiative that stems from the youth themselves, targeting both youth and children aged 0-18, as well as their parents, guardians and caregivers. "

She concluded by encouraging all members of the community to take part in the Child Safety Week and "to join us in spreading the knowledge and skills to safeguard our most valuable treasure – our children."

Emirates Foundation’s ‘Sanid’ programme is ideally positioned to champion this campaign, because of its best in-class emergency response volunteer model, which draws on the strengths of proven international models, particularly the Swedish Civil Defence League and the US Citizen Corps.

"SANID" (Arabic for ‘Support’) is the robust emergency response volunteer program of the UAE. Launched in 2009, SANID draws on the strengths of proven international models, particularly the Swedish Civil Defence League and the US Citizen Corps. It unites volunteers throughout the UAE who share a sense of social and civic responsibility and prepares them to cope with national and international emergencies, thus demonstrating the country’s readiness to manage any crisis situation.