Sharjah Prevention and Safety Authority organized a special event for Gulf Child Day, which is celebrated by the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf on the 15th of January each year, in Abu Shagara Park yesterday evening, in collaboration with Sharjah Municipality and sponsored by Mega Mall.

The event included many children of all ages, it included an interactive workshop on “Salama and Hamoud”, the two characters used by  the authority to send messages out to young people. Salama represents a positive personality that complies with safety and security rules. Her brother, Hamoud represents a negative personality who does not respect these rules. Salama tries to explain the rules and teach him how important it is to preserve his safety.

Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Prevention and Safety Authority stated that Gulf Child Day is an occasion to remind the public about children’s rights in general and to highlight UAE’s efforts in protecting them and enhancing their safety procedures. He pointed out that the Prevention and Safety Authority is keen to work and cooperate with all government agencies to launch awareness initiatives to achieve this goal

He added that its essential to familiarize children with safety and security rules associated to the places they are located, in order to to establish practices that focus on the prevention and precautions necessary to reduce any danger or injuries they may be subjected to, as well as focusing on the role of parents and teachers to encourage children to these behaviours that ensure the safety of the society and its members.
 

Nada Al Suwaidi, The Director of the Government Communications Department at the Prevention and Safety Authority, said that the authority aims to enhance security and safety procedures among all members of the community, protect them from possible accidents that may be encountered in different locations and especially focus on children, due to the lack of awareness of dangers they may be exposed to at home, school and street, in order to maintain their health and safety.

Al Suwaidi stated that Salama and Hamoud represent those children who deal with general safety practices differently, such as electricity, wastewater, fire, crossing roads and sharp tools. The authority looks to encourage children kindergarten, schools, malls and parks to comply with safety rules.

The event included the distribution of coloring books to children that participated, the drawings reflected some common practices at home and school to prevent risks. A competition was held at the end of the Salama and Hamoud workshop, and many of whom that participated won prizes and valuable gifts from Mega Mall.

Information about the Prevention and Safety Authority:

The Authority aims to develop awareness among the members of society about the importance and ways of preventing accidents and their impact on public safety, as well as to provide establishments the maximum protection from accidents by applying the highest standards of safety. The Authority also aims to develop and adopt special training programs on prevention and safety to raise the capacity of all who undertake the programs, as well as develop and implement awareness programs related to prevention, safety and occupational health.