Qatar Foundation for Woman and Child Protection (QFWCP) is sparing no effort in educating children about their fundamental rights and how to protect them, through its ongoing Friends of Child Protection Programme. The Foundation highlighted the aims of the initiative conceived three years ago, the committees involved and the schools to initially benefit from the project, during a press conference held at its headquarters yesterday. “This programme is aimed at raising awareness among children of their rights to education, health and media, among others, and how to protect these rights,” Fareeda Abdulla Alobaidly, General Manager, QFCWP, told The Peninsula, underscoring Qatar’s commitment to upholding children’s rights. Alobaidly said the campaign will also address problems that affect children in various places, mainly school and home. During the past month, QFWCP has visited over 10 government and private schools under the Supreme Education Council to identify their problems and needs. “Needs vary from school to school; some schools complain of student absenteeism, some behaviour of children, while others complain of lack of cooperation from parents,” Alobaidly said. She said the biggest dilemma children in Qatar face is the devastation they experience when their parents divorce. Another problem confronting many households today is Internet abuse, which comes in many forms, said Alobaidly, referring to the high Internet penetration in households as the primary reason for the emergence of the problem. “It is our responsibility to teach children how to use the Internet to avoid abuse, which has already become a crime,” she said. Dr Osama Hassan Mohamed Saied, Projects, Training and Development Expert at QFCWP, said as part of their programme, they also conducted talks with parents to make them understand the risks of the Internet so that they monitor and regulate their children’s Internet use. Saied said despite the full support they got from local government organisations and NGOs, they still felt the need to collaborate with international organisations to buttress their services. “We have started establishing contact with the UNICEF GCC Area Office to have their backing for us to extend all types of services we can provide to schools,” Saied revealed, adding partnership with international organisations will ensure the success of the programme. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=May2009&file=Local_News200905202255.xml

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