950 participants including children, youth and parents attend virtual sessions

The Child Safety Department (CSD), an affiliate of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA) in Sharjah, has organised 12 virtual workshops in January as part of their mission to raise awareness of community members on matters relating to children’s rights, safety and cybersecurity. More than 950 participants including 830 children and youth, and 120 parents participated in these workshops.

The workshops focused on relevant and important topics including cyber safety, first aid, children’s rights, children’s safety, and stress management, amongst others.

In line with precautionary measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and to keep children and families safe, all sessions were held on virtual platforms or broadcast through CSD’s social media accounts (@childsafetyuae).

Commenting on the workshops, Hanadi Saleh Al Yafei, CSD Director, said: “Ensuring the safety of children begins with becoming aware of what they may face in both the online and the real world. This knowledge will pave the way for an understanding of how to avoid imminent dangers, and how to handle children who have undergone physical or psychological abuse. This is why we continue to organise such workshops where we focus on a specific topic in every session, and target both children and adults alike.”

She added: “Child safety and protection methods evolve according to the developments and needs of different generations. A few decades ago, falling from balconies was not considered as a prime safety issue as there were no tall buildings here. The same applies to cybersecurity and safety. We therefore urge parents and teachers to proactively learn and familiarize themselves with new technologies and how they work to ensure the online safety of their children.”

CSD’s January workshops were held in collaboration with Sharjah Police and the Sharjah Prevention and Safety Authority.