New charity hailed for help to women and children

DUBAI — His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has issued a new law, setting up a special charitable body to care for women and children who have suffered any form of abuse in the emirate of Dubai.

By A Staff Reporter

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Published: Mon 9 Jul 2007, 9:07 AM

Last updated: Sun 5 Apr 2015, 3:04 AM

The foundation will offer its services to all eligible nationals living in Dubai by providing them the necessary assistance, including shelter, health care and counselling.

The new establishment will also offer rehabilitation services to the women and children to facilitate their integration into society and help them find sources of income.

City of Hope (CoH), a social organisation that provides temporary shelter to abuse victims, is expected to be merged with this foundation, to form a bigger body. However, the details, such as the new foundation’s name, are yet to be announced.

“I am very excited about this new law,” said Sharla Musabih, founder of CoH. “We have been in meetings with the government for the past few months and I am very happy with the outcome. As a country with a fast-growing population, Dubai needs to have the means to handle such abuse cases.”

Dr Raymond H. Hamdan, a clinical and forensic psychologist at the Human Relations Institute, who claims to be involved in the planning of the new foundation, said: “This (foundation) is a wake-up call as abuse is a matter of very serious concern.

The police too have to be educated on how to deal with these cases. Eventually, I do hope this awareness extends to men as well, as there have been many cases where men are too embarrassed to report being abused by their wives,” he said.

The foundation will have a board which shall run and supervise its day-to-day activities and take the appropriate decisions towards achieving its objectives. A chief executive officer will also be appointed to take care of these responsibilities.

The sources of revenue will include support from the local government through budget allocation and grants, gifts and donations from individuals and non-government organisations.


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