In another ground-breaking achievement for Sharjah, the ‘Sharjah Baby Friendly’ Project (SBF Project) has won the inaugural UNICEF Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) Inspire Award in the category of Child-Friendly Social Services.

Sharjah’s win was announced on Thursday, October 17, at the first Global Child-Friendly Cities Summit, which is being organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Cologne, Germany, from October 15-18.

The SBF Project was launched in 2011 following an Emiri decree by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. It was headed by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Baby Friendly Office (SBFO).

Sheikh Salem bin Abdul Rahman Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Ruler’s Office, received the award from Sebastian Lyon, Executive Director, UNICEF France, on behalf of the SBF Project.

Previously known the Baby-Friendly Emirate Campaign, the SBF Project was launched under the theme ‘A Right Beginning for a Better Future’, with a view to establishing a healthy life for children. This was sought to be done by creating a supportive environment for nursing mothers in the emirate’s public places to foster a culture of breastfeeding due to its enormous health benefits for both mother and baby.

The project has succeeded in introducing the concept of ‘child-friendly city’ after the fruitful implementation of four initiatives: Baby-Friendly Health Facilities, Mother-Friendly Workplaces, Mother and Baby-Friendly Public Places, and Breastfeeding-Friendly Nurseries.

The four initiatives were implemented simultaneously across the emirate, the first time ever globally, in compliance with the International Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) standards for being ranked as baby-friendly. The campaign culminated with Sharjah being named the world’s first Baby-Friendly City in 2015 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF.

“Through its participation in the first edition of the Global Child Friendly Cities Summit, the SBFO showcased the emirate’s experience and tireless efforts to improve children’s and young people’s futures and preserve their rights. It also highlighted Sharjah’s status as the first Arab child friendly city,” Dr. Al Ghazal said.

She added: “Sharjah sets an inspiring model for other Arab cities to adopt its approaches and policies that seek to boost children’s position and define their rights, as well as to strengthen relations with relevant international bodies and share with them experiences and expertise in the field.”

Dr. Al Ghazal expressed her pride in the participation of the two youth representatives from Sharjah and their impressive interaction with their peers from all over the world. “The global event gave the young representatives an opportunity to share their experiences, learn from their counterparts’ observations, gain more expertise and formulate applicable models. The young representatives will motivate other children and youth in Sharjah to actively contribute to developing their city.”

In a training session on children’s participation, Shamsa Al Naqbi, Mayed Al Mur and Dr. Hessa Al Ghazal highlighted the importance of the participation of children and youth in developing an action plan for projects adopted by their cities. They also shared their ideas about the most important issues affecting them, and how such views would affect their city’s action plan.

Speaking at a panel session on child rights and urban planning, architect Noora Ali Chookah spoke about Sharjah’s experience in engaging 48 children aged 9 – 11 years, for their inputs in designing a park project using ‘Minecraft’, a popular online video game. She explained how the Sharjah Urban Planning Council had implemented the park project taking into consideration children’s needs, through their Minecraft model proposals.

Dr. Al Ghazal highlighted Sharjah’s experience in implementing the ‘Sharjah Baby Friendly’’ Project at a panel discussion titled ‘Family-Friendly Policies’. She pointed out the innovative approach that Sharjah had adopted in implementing the International Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) by creating three community initiatives that targeted workplaces, public places and nurseries to promote a culture of breastfeeding in the emirate.

Prior to the summit, Dr. Al Ghazal, along with other participants, visited Hämeenlinna, the first city in Finland to receive the Child Friendly status, where they learned about the experience of the ‘Hirsimaki Kindergarten’. They also visited the ARX Cultural Centre for Children and Young People, which offers an array of brilliant art, music and performing art activities for youngsters, and brilliantly combines arts education for children with social work and youth services.