United Arab Emirates

Safe Kids Middle East/United Arab Emirates joined Safe Kids Worldwide in 1999. In the past eleven years, Safe Kids United Arab Emirates has made significant strides in improving child safety, including passing the first law addressing passenger safety in the United Arab Emirates(UAE) which requires that children under the age of 10 ride in the back seats of motor vehicles.

Safe Kids UAE works with corporations, the Ministry of Health, Roads and Transport Authority and other government agencies to implement their programs in hospitals, schools and the community.

Highlights

Spring Fair a Success

Johnson’s Baby, in coordination with Safe Kids United Arab Emirates and Roads and Transport Authority, coordinated and participated in the 21st Spring Fair “Fun in the Sun” held at Jebel Ali Primary School in Dubai. The goals of the annual fairs are to educate children and promote safety and awareness through interactive activities for children and parents. The focus of the fairs is on traffic safety since Safe Kids UAE has seen that there is a lack of awareness related to road rules among Arab children.

Activities included education for parents and their children on the correct way to cross roads, car safety tips, and road rules through interactive booths. This year, the booths were designed to look like the inside of a bus and depicted three different bus stops: Bus Stop 1- Riding in a car or bus, Bus Stop 2 – Crossing the road, Bus Stop 3 – Rules of the road. At each bus stop there were games, arts and crafts, and safety traffic songs.

This event is considered the largest Dubai community event and is enjoyed as a true family fun day. This year’s fair attracted about 4,000 parents and children.

Spacetoon Awareness Campaign

Safe Kids United Arab Emirates (UAE) developed Spacetoon Danger Ranger’s Safety Public Service Announcements to educate children in general childhood injury prevention and to provide safety tips on the Spacetoon Kids TV. These unique 30-second public service announcements focus on different safety topics and run once a day every day during prime time for three months. Topics include road and traffic rules, medicine toxicity and swimming and pool rules.

The campaign has been highly appreciated and accepted by parents, kids and childhood agencies. The announcements have reached 22 Arab countries, reaching more than 130 million viewers.