A little over a week after The Abu Dhabi National Campaign for Social Cohesion 2009 ended, the aims of the campaign to unite couples and families will continue on for the next five years. The campaign, under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Zayed Al Nahyan and organized by the Al Tawasel Center for Training and Consultancy under the slogan Building a Family…Building a Nation, held ten days of workshops, lectures and events to raise awareness about rising divorce rates in the UAE and the right steps in maintaining a marriage and family.
The campaign’s aims were to build a community that cherishes the value of maintaining family stability, reduce the incidence of divorce and family disintegration, educate newly married couples to meet the challenges affecting marital stability, give couples the skills to solve marital conflicts and guide couples towards the experts in solving family problems.
Marital life has been threatened with many problems due to differing thoughts and lack of adequate marital life skills. Field studies have shown increasing rates of divorce in the first years of marriage, which affect the productivity of people and reflect their sense of instability and psychological insecurity. Therefore, Al Tawasel for Training and Consultancy, in collaboration with some governmental departments undertook the National Campaign from March 8-18, 2009, to raise awareness of family integrity in society with the focus on young, newly married couples.
Fatima Al Rashdi, Director-General of the Campaign and Chairman of the Al Tawasel Center for Training and Consultancy, said of the campaign, “Society has seen an increase in divorce between spouses and based on the desire of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa for family stability and responsibility towards the nation, we have undertaken this campaign aimed at young people and married couples, especially university students and secondary school students to raise awareness through the provision of family counseling.”
Family relations experts, lawyers, marriage counselors and religious experts throughout the ten days held lectures in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, with each speaker advising couples how to have a happy marriage and stable family. Guests speaking at the events also held private workshops with couples giving them one-on-one advice.
The Jawaher program, part of the events held, organized three days of lectures and competitions at Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi and Al Geemi Mall in Al Ain. The events were held with the aim of bringing together families for some sought after family time with characters from the popular Emirati show, Freej, entertaining the children.
Among the many lectures and workshops were a march held in Abu Dhabi and which included children with special needs and had the Abu Dhabi Police Band leading children and parents from the Hilton Hotel to Marina Mall where competitions were held and awards were given out to children. A Poetry and Music Festival was also held at the National Theatre in Abu Dhabi with a range of singers and poets entertaining the audience which included Sheikh Zayed bin Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
A mass wedding, the largest in Abu Dhabi which included those with special needs, was held in Abu Dhabi, with 50 Emirati couples. The men’s wedding was held in the Abu Dhabi Armed Officers Club with Sheikh Zayed bin Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan attending and the women’s was held in the Intercontinental Hotel with honorary chairman of the campaign, HH Sheikha Latifa bint Zayed Al Nahyan attending.
The ten days of the festival culminated with a closing ceremony honoring all those who took part and were sponsors in the campaign. The campaign was sponsored by many governmental and private organizations including the Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, Abu Dhabi Municipality, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, Pyramedia, Al Jawda Association and many other supporting and media sponsors.
For more information or interview requests, contact Mira Nasser, mira@pyramedia.biz, +971 50 813 8269.
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