A multi-entity national response to child protection

Objectives: The Ministry of Interior (MoI), United Arab Emirates (UAE), in 2010, established the Higher Committee for Child Protection (HCCP) to fulfill the national responsibility as a signatory to the United Nations... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives: The Ministry of Interior (MoI), United Arab Emirates (UAE), in 2010, established the Higher Committee for Child Protection (HCCP) to fulfill the national responsibility as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Method: The HCCP is a multi-agency national body comprising of nearly forty federal and local entities with responsibility to make recommendations for development and improvement of child protection services across all the identified fourteen dimensions.

The HCCP launched the Ministry of Interior Child Protection Centre to develop, implement and regulate initiatives and actions aimed at providing safety, security and protection to all children living and visiting the UAE. It contributed to the development of the UAE National Childhood and Motherhood Strategy (2012-2021). In addition, it reviewed the draft Child Rights Law (2008) and made several recommendations relating to specific issues including sex offenders, possession of child abuse materials.

The role for HCCP has broadened since its inception five years ago and a strategic framework is now being developed for it to provide leadership and governance over all aspects of child protection in the UAE.

Results: The HCCP strategic framework which is inspired from UK’s Model National Response approach is in the process of being developed. It aims to address six strategic objectives in the areas of partnerships & networking; response & investigation; policy & legislation; building public confidence; providing support to child victims and developing capacity and capability for child abuse investigation.

Conclusions: The strategic road map for HCCP will help identify the key enablers and facilitating actions necessary in relation to each of the 14 child protection dimensions, taking into account the different perspectives offered by the 4Ps – prepare, prevent, pursue and protect – through twin principles of information sharing and collaborative intervention.