Dubai: Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWAC) has concluded seven days of participation in the 6th National Bullying Prevention Week in school environments, which was from November 14 to November 20.

Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union (GWU), President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, the event aimed to raise public awareness of bullying and its prevention methods.

The foundation’s participation comes as part of its commitment to establishing a culture of confronting bullying behaviours in school environments and educational settings by launching campaigns, awareness initiatives, and workshops on bullying that target children, adolescents, and youth.

Also, during the event, the foundation took part in the development of the "Guideline for specialists in the prevention of social bullying,” in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the National Committee for the Prevention of Bullying. The guideline aims to coordinate the anti-bullying efforts of all educational and community organizations. It also intends to inform and direct all stakeholders about their potential contributions to raising public awareness of social bullying prevention and intervention strategies.

The guide also aim to ensure that students receive high-quality education in a supportive, violent-free learning environment in school, as well as to provide anyone involved in the anti-bullying fight with the knowledge and skills necessary to avoid and reduce social bullying behaviour.

During the National Bullying Prevention Week, the foundation organized a virtual workshop in Arabic under the theme "How to build resilience to combat bullying." The workshop, which targeted adults and was attended by about 73 participants, focused on clarifying the concept of resistance, its principles, and its most important skills.Over the course of the seven-day event, DFWAC shared a series of social media awareness posts with detailed information clarifying what social bullying is and offering educational advice to Parents.

Celebrating World Children’s Day, which falls on the 20th of November of every year, the foundation has also organized an event in Dubai Schools- Mirdif entitled "Building Resilience to Combat Bullying." The event was attended by more than 100 students, where the foundation distributed a set of interactive cards to enhance children's self-confidence, raise their self-esteem, and instil values of accepting differences, and respecting others. The event also aimed to develop children’s empathy and tolerance skills and to build their resilience to negative life experiences, including bullying. Cards were used to implement a set of interactive activities, in cooperation with Ferjan Dubai.
Speaking on the occasion, HE Shaikha Saeed Al Mansouri, Acting Director-General of DFWAC, stressed that the foundation is keen to participate in every new edition of the National Bullying Prevention Week to shed light on the negative effects of bullying and raise community awareness about it.

Al Mansouri added that the strategic objectives that the foundation longs to achieve, including enhancing community awareness of the dangers of bullying, are a true embodiment of our wise leadership’s visions and directives. We look forward to creating a culture that upholds children's rights and guards against bullying. We will use every means at our disposal to accomplish this goal and safeguard our kids, who will be the nation's future leaders.
Al-Mansoori added, "The UAE's continuous support provided from the government, under the leadership of the President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, has constituted everything related to childhood. Preserving, protecting and investing in childhood is the cornerstone of our work through of which we were able to accomplish various achievements in cooperation with various official and community institutions in Dubai. Additionally, we were able to reach parents through workshops and raising their awareness on how to protect their children from bullying, as well as building bridges with children in order to allow them to express themselves, their desires and future aspirations with complete transparency.