Al Tamimi & Company (“Al Tamimi“), the largest law firm in the Middle East with 17 offices across 9 countries, has launched its ‘Children of Tomorrow’ Project as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility commitment.

The Project aims to raise awareness of existing laws governing the welfare and rights of children (including Federal Law No.3 of 2016, on Child Rights (Wadeema’s Law)) along with practical issues that may affect the process and procedures within every school in the UAE, both public and private.

The Project is open to other organisations who are interested in safeguarding children’s rights.

Pending the establishment of certain UAE bodies in line with the Executive Regulations of the Law, the Project aims to connect various key stakeholders and officials in the UAE (such as the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Education, Community Development Authority, Knowledge and Human Development Authority), bringing them together to address the key issues and consider the best approach to optimise protection against child abuse.

Awareness videos were prepared (in both Arabic and English) and circulated to all UAE schools on 13 January 2019. The videos provide practical advice and delve into key aspects to consider in relation to child safety, such as:

• the legal consequences if a child is harmed / commits a crime;
• what teachers / staff should do if they discover signs of abuse / medical condition;
• reporting generally; and
• how to handle situations where a child accesses inappropriate materials shared on WhatsApp, internet, etc.

We would like to thank Major Abdul Rahman Al-Tamimi from the Ministry of Interior, Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS Dubai) and the Al Tamimi project team for their involvement in developing the videos.

At a seminar, teachers, school representatives and other stakeholders came together to ask further questions to those leading the roll-out of the Project, as well as representatives from the relevant ministries.

We would like to express our gratitude for the tremendous support we have received from authorities, ministries and schools in the run up to the launch of this initiative, and look forward to developing it further during 2019.

The videos can be viewed in Arabic or English. The full brochure is also attached.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Project leads:

Ivor McGettigan
Partner, Head of Education
i.mcgettigan@tamimi.com

Alex Ghazi
Head of Office – Abu Dhabi
alex.ghazi@tamimi.com

Omar Khodeir
Senior Associate, Litigation
o.khodeir@tamimi.com

Maitha Al Hashimi
Associate, Litigation
m.alhashimi@tamimi.com