Monday 16 / June / 2025
Muscat: Acting in cooperation with the office of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Muscat, the Ministry of Social Development on Monday launched Oman’s “Child Protection Guide (CPG)” to enhance unified national response mechanisms.
The guide’s launch ceremony was held under the auspices of Dr. Laila Ahmed Al Najjar, Minister of Social Development.
The CPG serves as a comprehensive practical reference aimed at supporting personnel operating in the field of child protection (including social workers, teachers and healthcare providers). It unifies concepts, simplifies referral procedures and enhances coordination among relevant stakeholders. This ensures rapid and effective intervention deemed necessary for child protection and furnishing a safe and supportive environment for children in the Sultanate of Oman.
Sayyida Maani Abdullah Al Busaidi, Director General of Family Development at the Ministry of Social Development, said in a speech that the CPG constitutes a strategic step towards enhancing the integration of all national efforts for the protection of children, in addition to enabling national cadres to professionally respond to all cases of abuse, neglect and child exploitation.
Practical measures
For his part, Dr. Bilal Al Kiswani, Program Director at UNICEF Oman, said, “The CPG embodies our collective commitment to take practical measures whenever children are exposed to any form of risks. It reflects the significance of partnership between the UNICEF and the Government of the Sultanate of Oman in building child protection systems.”
The event included a dialogue session titled “Next Steps and Training of Trainers Plan”, run by Safia Abdullah Al Abri, Assistant Director of the Family Protection Department at the Ministry of Social Development.
The session dealt with the CPG training plan, elaboration about general frameworks, basic concepts of the case management system and training on the system’s stages of implementation.
-ONA
