Jawaher beefs up efforts to help families amid virus

Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA), has approved the strategic plan of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA) 2022 and the new organisational structure of its General Secretariat.

Developed in accordance with state-of-the-art institutional excellence standards, the plan is primarily focusing on enhancing the implementation of quality practices and performance efficiency in all businesses.

Lauding Her Highness’s approval of the strategy, which constitutes a significant step towards coping with and responding to the current changes, the council underlined that Sheikha Jawaher’s move clearly reflects the leadership’s commitment to uplifting and empowering families in Sharjah, in line with the directives and visions of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, who always calls for developing strategies and plans that help maintain the cohesion and stability of families in the Emirate.

Sheikha Jawaher said: “Since the establishment of its first institution ‘Sharjah Ladies Club’ in 1982, the Supreme Council for Family Affairs has been working on serving the UAE community by empowering its individuals and ensuring their stability.

“And with the ongoing life changes and rising challenges, the council plays a substantial role in following up on the arising needs through specific plans and strategies that focus on individuals, in accordance with the best global community practices. These strategies will act as an incubator for family promotion plans and programmes carried out by the Council departments.”

Dr. Khawla Al Mulla, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, welcomed the launch of the new strategic plan, thanking Sheikha Jawaher for her sustained follow-up on the Council activities and her steadfast interest to adopt leading communal policies in various family-related fields and topics. She also lauded her close follow-up on the implementation of those policies to make sure they fulfil the aspirations of the community members and empower them to play their roles in society.

The new strategy has set a number of priorities including strengthening research and data sources through the provision of an updated data system for family information and issues, keeping pace with digital transformation to ensure the fulfilment of comprehensive family development, apart from bolstering the educational health performance in society, and raising awareness on child safety and protection.

In the same context, the SCFA’s strategic plan featured a set of initiatives tailored to achieve leadership and excellence in family building and development.

These include establishing the Family Information Centre (Marsad), which is concerned with monitoring and documenting the conditions and challenges families are facing in Sharjah, in addition to providing a full-fledged data bank on family issues in the emirate and the Council’s activities and achievements.

Among other initiatives is also holding an annual forum for family partnerships, with local, regional, and international participation to discuss aspects of cooperation in family issues.

Moudhi Al Shamsi, Head of Department of Family Development Centres (DFDC), said: “The new strategy will serve as an umbrella for all departments to design policies that will accomplish family-centred unified goals.”

Salha Ghabish, Head of the Cultural and Media Office, said: “The recently approved strategy reflects the visions of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and the wife of His Highness, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, given it attaches great attention to the family, which is seen as the nucleus of development vision of the Emirate of Sharjah.”

Dr. Hessa Khalfan Al Ghazal, Executive Director of Sharjah Baby-Friendly Office, said that the strategy will significantly contribute to reinforcing the international achievements made by Sharjah in the field of child friendly cities and supporting the family-friendly environment in the emirate, commending the wise directives of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher, which aim to promote joint institutional work among the SCFA’s departments.