Police qualify 204 child safety ambassadors

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

Dubai Police qualified 204 children to become safety ambassadors in 18 schools across the emirate, revealed police officers on Wednesday.

The Awareness and Education Section of the Child and Women Protection Department at the Dubai Police General Department of Human Rights qualified 204 students in the Emirate of Dubai to be “Safety Ambassadors.”

They were trained to contribute to sensitising their peers on how to communicate with the Child and Women Protection Department when they are subjected to violence or abuse, be it sexual harassment or otherwise.

The Dubai Police Human Rights Department Director, Brigadier Dr Mohammed Abdullah Al Murr, said the Safety Ambassadors project aims to spread the culture of children’s rights and protect children from sexual abuse and bullying among other attacks.

It also seeks to involve them in raising awareness of their schoolmates, to inform them about their rights and tell them how to alert the Child and Women Protection Department in case they are subjected to any kind of abuse.

Brig. Dr. Al Murr indicated that the paramount project benefits children from 6 to 16 years of age and is being run under the directives of the Dubai Police Commander-in-Chief Major General Khalifa Abdullah Al Marri.

For her part, the Head of the Awareness and Education Section Fatima Al Beloushi said police trained children in the 18 schools through a series of specialised workshops in a simplified manner commensurate with their age.

Police explained to them their rights under UAE Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 (popularly known as Wadeema Law) on the protection of child rights.

Al Beloushi pointed out that the workshops included education on the psychological, social and educational aspects of children, especially crimes they may be exposed to, the steps to take and how report abuse cases to the police.

She stressed that the Human Rights Department in cooperation with schools’ managements established 20 protection committees in public and private schools to protect children from any violations they may be subjected to, and raise their awareness.

Dubai Police plans to expand the Safety Ambassadors project to cover more schools in the emirate, in the interest of children besides achieving their happiness and protecting them especially after the positive effects we have witnessed, she underscored.