Khaleej Times

Experts discuss welfare plan for women, children

Shaikha Fatima addresses global conference

- Wam

abu dhabi — The UAE has taken significan­t measures to raise awareness on the risks women, children and adolescent­s are facing across the world, Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union (GWU), Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Developmen­t Foundation (FDF) and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, said.

“Our state has become a model to be emulated in granting these vital segments in the community their complete rights to enable them achieve developmen­t and progress. By doing so, the UAE has occupied a prominent ranking in internatio­nal reports and indices measuring the state of affairs of women, children, and adolescent­s,” she said in a keynote address at the Experts’ Consultati­on Meeting on reproducti­ve, maternal, babies, child and adolescent health: life-saving priorities in all settings.

The Abu Dhabi meeting, which assembles an elite galaxy of internatio­nal multi-sectoral experts and specialist­s, is being convened at a crucial time when these groups are facing unpreceden­ted threats in different parts of the world including deprivatio­n of simple basic human rights.

They, Shaikha Fatima noted, are victims of wars, discrimina­tion, poverty, famine and other lifethreat­ening risks. In her address at

The UAE has occupied a prominent ranking in internatio­nal reports and indices measuring the state of affairs of women, children, and adolescent­s,”

Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak 70 key stakeholde­rs gathered in Abu Dhabi to develop

the five-year plan

the two-day meeting in Abu Dhabi, read out on her behalf by Reem Al Falasy, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, Shaikha Fatima said, thanks to the far-sighted vision of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, women, children and adolescent­s have become the cornerston­e for realising sustainabl­e social and economic developmen­t and ensuring stability, progress and welfare of the society.

As many as 70 key stakeholde­rs and representa­tives from 32 local, regional and internatio­nal organisati­ons gathered in Abu Dhabi on Monday to develop a 5-year plan for implementa­tion of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescent­s’ Health (2016-2030).

The meeting is part of the efforts to implement the updated Global Strategy 2016-2030 for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescent­s’ Health, which was launched by the United Nations (UN) in September 2015, building on new evidence since the original Global Strategy of 2010, and aligning with the targets and indicators developed for the framework of Sustainabl­e Developmen­t Goals.

Over the two-day meeting, multidisci­plinary experts will explore options available for supporting the implementa­tion of strategies and approaches in an effective way and conduct research needed to bridge the existing gaps in issues concerning health of women, children and adolescent­s.

In her welcome address, Princess Sarah Zeid, Director, Every Woman Every Child Everywhere Movement, expressed her deep gratitude to Shaikha Fatima for her unwavering commitment to providing all forms of support to the vital segments of women, babies, children and adolescent­s everywhere in the world, particular­ly those reeling under hazardous circumstan­ces. —

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