Abu Dhabi: Her Highness 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, (FDF) has established an academic centre to perform research studies on motherhood and childhood.
The Fatima bint Mubarak Motherhood and Childhood Research Centre, based at the UAE University, aims to achieve the goals of the UAE Vision 2021 and the UAE Centennial 2071 related to motherhood and childhood development.
The goals will be achieved through creating a database of information useful in the decision-making process and improving national and international childhood indexes that will contribute to the development of motherhood and childhood quality of life indexes.
It will also draft plans to promote cooperation with relevant authorities, UAE news agency WAM reported.
In a statement marking the occasion, Sheikha Fatima said that the decision to establish the centre is an example of the care for children and mothers of the country’s leadership.
The centre will help strengthen the related stature of the UAE, which has become a global model to follow of caring for children and providing the social and legal environment necessary for the development of a healthy society.
"This achievement is due to the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Forces Armed, and their brothers, Their Highnesses Supreme Council Members and Rulers of the Emirates," she said.
"The initiative to establish the centre stems from my keenness and concern for mothers, wherever they are, and to help them raise their children, the children of the UAE, in a good and healthy environment.
"The late founding Father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, paid special attention to the rights of women and children, and his directive to establish the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood at the start of 2003 aimed to create the best family, social, legal, educational, cultural and health environment for the Emirati family.
"At the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, we are determined to adopt new leading international standards that will empower women and children in all aspects of life," Sheikha Fatima said.
"This can be achieved according to a scientific method based on in-depth and documented studies originating from the UAE, and will draw inspiration from the successes of other societies and their experiences to be launched later, to establish a national path and make a qualitative mark in this sector, to become a model and reference.”
Sheikha Fatima said the centre, its research, and its targets complement the goals of the 'Fatima bint Mubarak Prize for Motherhood and Childhood', which will become global in 2022, opening its doors to the participation of international organisations concerned with children's affairs.
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