Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA), has approved the strategic plan of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA) 2022 and the new organizational structure of its General Secretariat.

Developed in accordance with state-of-the-art institutional excellence standards, the plan is primarily focusing on enhancing the implementation of quality practices and performance efficiency in all businesses.

Lauding Her Highness’s approval of the strategy, which constitutes a significant step towards coping with and responding to the current changes, the council underlined that Sheikha Jawaher’s move clearly reflects the leadership’s commitment to uplifting and empowering families in Sharjah, in line with the directives and visions of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, who always calls for developing strategies and plans that help maintain the cohesion and stability of families in the Emirate.

HH Sheikha Jawaher said: “Since the establishment of its first institution ‘Sharjah Ladies Club’ in 1982, the Supreme Council for Family Affairs has been working on serving the UAE community by empowering its individuals and ensuring their stability. And with the ongoing life changes and rising challenges, the council plays a substantial role in following up on the arising needs through specific plans and strategies that focus on individuals, in accordance with the best global community practices. These strategies will act as an incubator for family promotion plans and programs carried out by the Council departments.”

Relentless follow-up

Her Excellency Dr. Khawla Al Mulla, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, welcomed the launch of the new strategic plan, thanking HH Sheikha Jawaher for her sustained follow-up on the Council activities as well as her steadfast interest to adopt leading communal policies in various family-related fields and topics.

She also lauded her close follow-up on the implementation of those policies to make sure they fulfil the aspirations of the community members and empower them to play their roles in society.

Achieving integration

Thanking those in charge of implementing the plan, Al Mulla said: “The new strategic plan focuses on achieving integration among various departments of the council in terms of planning, implementation, and performance development, as well as enhancing the strategic culture and competitive capabilities.

The strategy aims to achieve four key goals, including building a safe, stable, and effective family, adopting innovative policies for family promotion, improving performance in line with global practices and future requirements through the strategic organization and efficient use of resources, and strengthening the institutional capabilities in a sophisticated work environment, by enhancing the main enablers in the technology infrastructure and work environment and keeping pace with modern technologies in business performance and service delivery.

Concluding her remarks, Al Mulla made it clear that the new strategy was mapped out based on the best international practices in the institutional work models of the family system, the new global diversity that requires assimilation of different family cultures, the change in family patterns and their types, and the impact of change in business and economic models on the family system.

Key initiatives

The new strategy has set a number of priorities including strengthening research and data sources through the provision of an updated data system for family information and issues, keeping pace with digital transformation to ensure the fulfilment of comprehensive family development,as well as bolstering the educational health performance in society, and raising awareness on child safety and protection.

In the same context, the SCFA’s strategic plan featured a set of initiatives tailored to achieve leadership and excellence in family building and development.

These include establishing the Family Information Center (Marsad), which is concerned with monitoring and documenting the conditions and challenges families are facing in Sharjah, in addition to providing a full-fledged data bank on family issues in the emirate and the Council’s activities and achievements.

Among other initiatives is also holding an annual forum for family partnerships, with local, regional, and international participation to discuss aspects of cooperation in family issues.

The SCFA departments commended the new strategic plan, highlighting its importance in unifying and coordinating efforts to achieve service integration, adopt and implement initiatives that help realise a new active role for the family in the community system and create a stable and cohesive family that takes pride in identity and culture.

An umbrella for all departments

HE Moudhi Al Shamsi, Head of Department of Family Development Centres (DFDC), said: “The new strategy will serve as an umbrella for all departments to design policies that will accomplish family-centered unified goals. The new strategy supports the DFDC’s plans and programs especially when it comes to building stable, empowered, and effective family in society.”

Al Shamsi affirmed the DFDC pays particular attention to fostering family cohesion and stability, as well as raising community awareness about family issues.

Centre of the development vision

HE Salha Ghabish, Head of the Cultural and Media Office, said: “The recently approved strategy reflects the visions of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and the wife of His Highness, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, given it attaches great attention to the family, which is seen as the nucleus of development vision of the Emirate of Sharjah.

World-class achievements

HE Dr. Hessa Khalfan Al Ghazal, Executive Director of Sharjah Baby-Friendly Office, said that the strategy will significantly contribute to reinforcing the international achievements made by Sharjah in the field of child friendly cities and supporting the family-friendly environment in the emirate, commending the wise directives of HH Sheikha Jawaher, which aim to promote joint institutional work among the SCFA’s departments.

Value-added

Thanking HH Sheikha Jawaher for her tremendous efforts being made to provide a decent life to all families, HE Iman Rashid Saif, Director, Health Promotion Department, affirmed that the strategy represents an added value to Sharjah’s strategic plans as it will support the ongoing efforts to maintain the public health. The new strategy will also help strengthen the emirate’s efforts to become the first health city not only in the region but also in the world.

Upgrading performance standards

Lauding the newly approved plan, HE Hanadi Saleh Al Yafei, Child Safety Department Director, said: “The new strategy will positively reflect on the department’s programs and initiatives, where it will help improve performance standards and provide an integrated system of data on child and family issues. Above all, the strategy mirrors the department’s vision to promote the public awareness on children-related issues and respond quickly to all that threatens children’s safety, using interactive and innovative methods to reach all target groups”.

The Supreme Council for Family Affairs in Sharjah was established under the Emiri Decree No. (24) of 2000. In 2010, Emiri Decree No. (37) of 2010 was issued to reorganize the structure of the council. The council aims to uplift the family and activate its role in society, achieve comprehensive development of children and proper upbringing of young people, empower people of determination and integrate them into the society, upgrade best services for women, improve health conditions, and propose laws and regulations that help develop family-related policies.