100STUDENTS APPRECIATED FOR COMPLETION OF 2nd PHASE OF PEER-LED CHILDINJURY PREVENTION PROJECT
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Participation from 9 schools across Dubai and 8 schoolsacross Sharjah
Project in line with the recommendations of the 4thArab Children Health Congress which took place in Dubai in 2010
UnitedArab Emirates, Dubai, May 31, 2012: Under the patronage ofChairperson of Dubai Healthcare City AuthorityHRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH SheikhMohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAEand Ruler of Dubai, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), UNICEF, Ministryof Education and the Princess Haya Initiative for the Development of Health,Physical Education & School Sports, celebrated today, the success of thesecond phase of the peer-led child injury prevention project at a ceremony thatwas held at the Rashid Hospital Medical Library in Dubai.
As part of the project,100 school students, between the ages of 12-15 years, from 9 schools in Dubaiand 8 schools in Sharjah, participated in a series of capacity trainingworkshops, all under the theme ‘ReducingAccidents and Promoting Injury Prevention’. Each of the workshopslasted three days, after which the students were qualified to educate theirpeers in each of their respective schools on child injury prevention throughdeveloping their own initiatives which included presentations, distributingleaflets, designing posters, to name a few.
This is the second phaseof the program; the first phase was completed in May 2011, and includedtraining for 100 students from 20 schools in Dubai. Its implementation is in line with therecommendations of the 4th Arab Children Health Congress which washeld in 2010, also under the patronage of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein,stressing the importance of child safety programmes in schools.
Following theserecommendations, UNICEF and the Dubai Health Authority joined forces and incollaboration with the Ministry of Education and the World HealthOrganisation, developed a training package on child injury prevention under the"Peer-led Injury Prevention" project. The aim was to empoweradolescents and youth and enhance their knowledge and skills towards building aculture of safety.
HisExcellency Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director-General of the DHAthanked HRH Princess Haya for Her efforts and support and alsoextended his gratitude to the initiative’s stakeholders. He said that thepeer-led child injury prevention project was in line with the Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) signed by the DHA and UNICEF which outlined a number ofstrategic initiatives, some of which stemmed from recommendations of the 4thArab Children’s Health Congress.
“At the DHA, weare committed to protecting the health of our population. Child injuries are asocial and economic burden on the health system therefore we need the activeinvolvement of all relevant stakeholders to implement regular awareness andeducational programs. We need to ensure that we create a safe environment forour children,” stated HE Al Murooshid. “This program is unique because itempowers children with knowledge and information and uses peer-to-peer strategyso that children can because messengers of health and safety and educate theirpeers and family members.”
Ms. Lara Hussein Chief of Child Protection, UNICEF said:“Following the success of the first phase of the Child Injury PreventionProject, UNICEF and partners decided to replicate this project to reach alarger number of students from schools in both Dubai and Sharjah. This project comes underthe adolescent empowerment program that UNICEF Gulf Area Office is working onin the UAE, which aims at giving adolescents the rights to participate, andincreases their capacity and enhances youth awareness through peer educationwhereby trained students provide the knowledge and skills they learn during theworkshops to raise awareness to their friends, families and communities.”
Aisha Al Siri,Director of School Health at the Ministry of Education said:“This project has contributed to our plans of building a generation of studentswho are aware of their health and safety and they have taken up theresponsibility of trying to reduce childhood injuries and accidents, which isone of the main causes of childhood death in the UAE. We are glad that the newphase of this program has reached a large number of students both in Dubai and Sharjah who arenow trained to protect themselves and others within their community fromaccidents and injuries.”
As part of the ceremony,students creatively depicted, by way of an exhibition at the Rashid HospitalMedical Library, how to best avoid injuries caused by drowning, road trafficaccidents, poisoning, burning and falls.
All students were given acertificate of appreciation for their participation and for their efforts thathelped make the initiative a success.
At the end of the event,senior DHA officials including His Excellency Khalid Al Sheikh Mubarak, DeputyDirector, Laila Al Jassmi, CEO of Health Policy and Strategy Sector, Heba AlShaar, Director of Institutional Marketing and Communications Department and DrAhmed Kalban, CEO of Primary Health Care.
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