NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
Campaign targets children in cars
DUBAI - NOV 06: A seat-belt campaign was launched yesterday to reduce the number of children who die in car crashes.
Families across the UAE are to be targeted by the Safe Kids Buckle Up campaign through a series of advertisements.
They will be encouraged to strap their children into child seats in the back of their car for all journeys, no matter how short.
From 2000 to 2006, 460 children aged under 14 died in car crashes, according to figures collated by the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Roadway Transport and Traffic Research Centre, and two thirds of those killed were under four.
The campaign, which will run for 10 years, is an initiative of Safe Kids Worldwide, an American organisation, in partnership with the UAE National Transport Authority and Unicef.
The UAE is the first country in the region to launch a Safe Kids Worldwide campaign. They also operate in Europe and North America.
The Safe Kids Buckle Up programme is to raise awareness and understanding of the issue surrounding child passenger safety and will educate parents on the dangers of leaving children unrestrained in cars.
Safe Kids Worldwide has cut child road deaths in other countries by up to 90 per cent and hopes to reduce the figure by 70 per cent in the UAE. The television campaign, which starts on Friday, will use the theme: “If you really want to hold on to them, let them go and strap them in.” Many mothers hold their children in cars, sometimes even while driving.
The non-governmental organisation has worked to cut the number of child deaths in 16 countries. David Bennett, chief advancement officer of Safe Kids Worldwide, said car crashes were the number one killer of children in the UAE.
“It is a growing threat to children. The UAE is the first in so many great feats but we don’t want it to be first for highest death rate,” he said.
Child seats save lives and cut the rate of death by 40 per cent, he said. “I can’t think of anything else that can cut the death rate so quickly.”
Mr Bennett said it was more than a television campaign. “We have to work with the police to enforce it and religious leaders to talk about it,” he said.
He said the police had already made significant inroads by implementing the black points system on driving licences, but the battle lay ahead in terms of educating people in the UAE.
“A lot of expatriates who come here bring their own child car seat because they are so expensive. But when we went to Brazil, local companies started to manufacture more affordable seats that sold there for $45,” he said.
Ebtisam al Kaaiti, of the UAE National Transport Authority, said it was important for her organisation to reach the goal of safety. “It is one of the main problems we face economically and socially.”
Demonstrations will be held on how to correctly install and buckle up child seats during a roadshow that will visit Ibn Battuta Mall from Nov 6 to 8, the Burjaman from Nov 12 to 15 and the new Dubai Mall from Nov 23 to 30.
A woman who has two children, who did not wish to be named, said she brought her child seat from the UK.
“We moved here a year ago and I was horrified to see children jumping around on the back seats of a car that was travelling over 120kph. There is sometimes absolutely no respect,” she said.
“I’ve had a car seat for my two children and the ones I got can be moved from different cars. I don’t need any training to put them in. But I would not leave the house without them and the chairs are just a normal part of motherhood, the same way as buying nappies. But this campaign, I think it is a really good idea and it is never too late,” she said.
Ministry suspends university courses
UAE - NOV 06: Courses at two universities have been placed on probation because of concerns over academic standards.
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research’s commission for academic accreditation imposed the probation after problems were found in four programmes at the UAE branch campus of an overseas university and one programme at a private university.
Prof Badr Aboul-Ela, the commission director, confirmed that the measures had been taken but would not identify the universities or the courses involved.
The universities are prevented from enrolling students for the courses until the commission’s concerns have been addressed.
Courses can be put on probation while being assessed for accreditation, as in these cases, or when being assessed for accreditation renewal.
Such action is taken when concerns arise about the quality of faculty, teaching standards, curriculum or resources.
“When we see a sign of that, we put the programme under probation,” Prof Aboul-Ela said.
“There are only a few cases where we’ve had to take tough action against institutions.”
All universities licensed by the ministry must apply for accreditation for each programme before they recruit students for it.
Prof Aboul-Ela said admissions to the courses under probation had been stopped “until the deficiencies are rectified”.
Despite concerns about the suspended programmes, Prof Aboul-Ela said students could be confident that in general, standards at ministry-licensed institutions were high.
“All our licensed institutions are under our scrutiny and they’re visited at least once a year, and they report their teaching load for every faculty every semester,” he said.
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, last month advised students and their parents to use the ministry’s website to identify institutions that were licensed and had accredited programmes.
“Some institutions are fully accredited and they do provide a good standard of education,” he said.
But the accreditation commission would not give assurances regarding unlicensed institutions.
Universities in free zones, such as Dubai Knowledge Village, Dubai International Academic City and Ras al Khaimah Free Trade Zone, are not required to have ministry licences or commission accreditation for their courses.
Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority set up the University Quality Assurance International Board (Uqaib) to ensure that free-zone institutions in Dubai maintain the standards of their home-country campuses.
This week Uqaib began vetting institutions to determine whether to license them.
In a statement, the chairman of Uqaib, Dr Warren Fox, said the board worked “with international standards of quality in mind”.
“This approach is reflected in the board’s line up of educationalists from around the world,” he said.
“It will be working hand in hand with educational institutions to raise standards, if that is found to be necessary. Its role is to help an institution to improve and it will act as a facilitator, rather than an enforcer.” Unlike Dubai and Ras al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi does not have an education free zone and institutions have to obtain licences and commission accreditation.
Concerns about university standards are not unique to the UAE, said Prof Jim Mienczakowski, the head of higher education at the Abu Dhabi Education Council.
Prof Mienczakowski said that in Abu Dhabi, where the council vets applications from institutions wishing to open facilities, there were strong guidelines to determine what kinds of institutions would be allowed.
Education authorities in Bahrain recently warned institutions there that they could be sanctioned if they failed to maintain standards by hiring unqualified faculty, or making it too easy for students to gain entry or pass examinations.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi to host open-air films
DUBAI/ABU DHABI - NOV 06: Open-air cinema is to debut in the UAE later this month, when some of the biggest films of the year will be projected onto a screen six storeys high.
The showings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be the first time the Swiss OpenAir company has brought the world’s largest mobile screen to the Middle East, showing new films from around the world, including Guy Ritchie’s gangster caper RocknRolla, Daniel Craig as James Bond in Quantum of Solace and Keira Knightley playing the title role in The Duchess.
The showings will begin at 9pm and run nightly from Monday to Nov 21 in Dubai at Mina Salem Beach, and from Dec 1 to 12 in Abu Dhabi at the gardens of the Emirates Palace hotel.
The programme has a festival feel, with films from around the world. There will be nights dedicated to British, Bollywood and Arabian films as well as family showings.
Ticket sales for the Dubai event have been brisk: one James Bond fan tried to buy all 2,000 tickets for Quantum of Solace, only to find out the opening-night screening is by invitation only.
It takes 75 people five days to assemble the screen, which stands 25 metres high and measures 4,000 square feet.
Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, will attend a charity screening of the animated children’s film Open Season 2 on Nov 14. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Dubai Cares.
Tickets to each screening are Dh50 (US$13.62) and are available, along with the full programme, through www.timeouttickets.com. More information is available at www.swissopenair.com.
A picture is worth 40,000 dirhams
ABU DHABI - NOV 06: Amateur and professional photographers are being urged to enter the third Emirates Photography Competition to help preserve the heritage of the nation.
The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach) hopes the 2009 competition will be an incentive to capture the beauty of the country’s animals, desert and cities.
The photography competition, which is part of the Emirates Film Competition, is open to residents and nationals from the GCC. Entries will be accepted until Dec 31 for exhibition in March.
Bader al Nomani, the director of the competition, said: “We hope the entries submitted will reflect the beauty of the desert, camels and other parts of nature as well as aspects of the community so that they can be well remembered for generations.”
Abdullah al Amiri, director of the Culture and Art department at Adach, said: “We want to award those who put an effort into promoting images of heritage across the region and aspects of our culture.
“The art of photography reflects the sentiments of people and until recently it has not been given enough focus in the Arab world.”
The main theme of the competition will be street photography. It has been inspired by the late French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Photographers will be asked to capture the nature of life on the street.
This, according to Mr Nomani, will be the most popular section of the competition.
Other categories will cover four general themes: landscape and nature, portraits and people, journalism photography and sport and action.
Prize money of Dh15,000 (US$4,000) for first place, or the Golden Eye Award, Dh12,000 for the Silver Eye and Dh10,000 for the Bronze Eye will be distributed for the main theme and for each of the four subsidiary themes.
There will also be six prizes of Dh10,000 given by individuals on the judging panel for their favourite piece.
Although the competition is open to the entire GCC, there will be an additional prize for the best work from a UAE photographer across all themes.
The overall winner, across all categories, will receive the top award, the Diamond Eye, which carries a Dh40,000 prize.
The exhibition will begin on March 10 next year and run for one month. Winners will be announced during the exhibition. There will also be a display of Cartier-Bresson’s work.
The Abu Dhabi International Photography Association, which is made up of professionals from all over the country, will support the competition.
“There will be a special section on the website where a professional can post his photos as well as his CV and biography,” Mr Nomani said. “This will encourage communication within the photographic community.”
Mr Nomani will also host workshops, meetings and seminars, holding personal and group exhibitions. The workshops and seminars, which are open to anyone from the GCC, will be held in Abu Dhabi in February.
Applicants for both the workshops and the competition itself will be able to apply through the website.
Last year’s winners were Majed al Zarouni, from the UAE, who won the general theme, Eisa al Teneji, for the people and portraits theme, and Mohammad al Taei, from Oman, who won the prize for the desert theme.