• Abdul Aziz Al Ishaq: The Conference is an important milestone in developing child helpline service operations at the highest standards and specifications and the fastest possible response.

• The Conference will be the first international and regional specialized meeting of its kind in the region for child helplines.

• AMAN Center launches the “AMAN Shield" platform project to protect the targeted groups as the largest Arab project in this field.

• AMAN sponsored the child Nayef Al Hail, “inventor of a robot", to develop his invention to suit the targeted children

• Honoring Abdul Aziz Al Ishaq with the Award for the Most Prominent Arab Personality in the field of protecting children's rights in 2022.

May 24, 2022 – Doha, Qatar:

In the presence of His Excellency Mr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Kuwari, CEO of Qatar Foundation for Social Work, the International Conference on Child Helplines, organized by the Protection and Social Rehabilitation Center "AMAN", a center governed by the Foundation, began over two consecutive days, May 23 and 24, 2022, at Grand Hyatt Hotel – Al Sailiya Hall, in conjunction with the International Day of Child Helplines, which is celebrated by Child Helplines International on 17th May every year.

AMAN Center revealed one of its largest projects, which is the launch of the “AMAN Shield" platform, which provides unique content on the treatment, rehabilitation and care of the targeted groups. In addition, it provides guidelines and advices on the use of artificial intelligence for children, parents, school specialists, as well as childcare workers. The implementation of the project is expected to continue until the end of the year. AMAN revealed that it has sponsored the child Nayef Al Hail, inventor of a color recognition robot. AMAN will develop the robot to suit the targeted children exposed to violence.

During the opening ceremony, Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Ishaq – CEO of AMAN Center, was honored with the Award for the Most Prominent Arab Personality in the field of protecting children's rights in 2022.

The inauguration was attended by a group of international and local dignitaries, including His Excellency Jab Dweik – Chairman of Child Helplines International, and His Excellency Chancellor Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Saud Al Subaie – Chairman of UNICEF in Brussels, in addition to the participation of more than 250 decision-makers, academics and specialized experts from Qatar and worldwide.

Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Ishaq, CEO of AMAN Center, opened the activities of the Conference by a welcome speech, stating: (attached CEO's speech)

Furthermore, Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Ishaq, CEO of AMAN Center and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the International Conference on Child Helplines, said: “This conference represents the first international and regional specialized meeting of its kind in the region for child helplines".

He added that the Conference is a turning point for the vision and mission of AMAN and the relevant authorities in promoting protection and social rehabilitation for children, guided by the best international and regional practices, and promoted by the efforts of AMAN in its prestigious position in the leadership of civil society organizations internationally and regionally in the field of child helplines.

He also stressed that the Conference will contribute to developing work in the field of child helplines and transferring the Qatari distinguished experience to the world. In addition, the Conference will convey the efforts made to develop child helplines in the region and, with distinguished international, Arab and Gulf participations, it will enhance the exchange of experiences and information between the participating parties.

He indicated that the main objectives of the Conference are to raise the awareness of the local and international community on the rights of the child and advocate them, support the international commitment to confront any violations against children, encourage the participating countries to establish child helplines, and build capacities in the Middle East and North Africa by being guided by the approach of AMAN.

- About AMAN Shield:

“AMAN Shield" platform project is an innovative electronic platform that serves the targeted groups to empower those working in the field of child protection. It will be a great addition to the Arabic content on the Internet. AMAN Center seeks for the platform to contain a comprehensive educational guidelines, and to be a platform that serves the education of children and helps children to obey parents and deal with their surroundings.

The platform aims to have more than 10 million words, through more than 10,000 specialized articles, in addition to attracting the largest possible number of researchers and educators to participate in it, in a way that benefits children and parents in the relationship with the family, so that they can obtain complete guidance through information about everything related to children and women issues. For the mechanisms of following the correct education methods, the platform will provide unique content on the treatment, rehabilitation and care of the targeted groups, including women, children and victims of family breakdown. In addition, it will provide guiding tips and advice on the use of artificial intelligence for children, parents, school specialists, as well as childcare workers. The implementation of the project is expected to continue until the end of the year.

2. About sponsoring and developing the “Color Recognition Robot" project:

Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Ishaq, CEO of AMAN Center, presented a certificate of sponsorship for the creative child, Nayef Al Hail, inventor of the “Color Recognition Robot". AMAN Center will sponsor and develop the robot idea to suit the services provided to the targeted groups and to suit the targeted children exposed to violence, so that the project will be able to serve a larger segment of children.

The Center will develop the robot to help children who have been subjected to violence and live under trauma to deal with specialists through color reading technology, in addition to children who are deaf or have any diseases that prevent them from speaking.

3. About the Award for the Most Prominent Arab Personality in the field of protecting children's rights in 2022

UNICEF awarded the Award for the Most Prominent Arab Personality in the field of child protection to Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Ishaq, CEO of AMAN Center, for his overall social, media and administrative efforts in the field of child protection over the 12 years he worked in the social field.

The Organization, which is based in the Belgian capital, Brussels, said in its statement that in the meeting of the Board of Directors held on April 13, Mr. Abdul Aziz bin Ibrahim Al Ishaq was chosen as the most prominent figure for the UNICEF's standards due to his practical experience of more than 12 years, his national and international efforts, and his effective participation in awareness-raising, media and administrative work in the field of child protection, in addition to his distinguished efforts in cooperation with international and regional organizations during the period in which he managed AMAN Center.

Accordingly, the Organization's Board of Directors decided to grant the Award for the Most Prominent Personality in 2022, according to the rules adopted by the Organization and its international partners.

UNICEF, a member of the United Nations Global Compact, is a platform for community development in the Arab region and the exchange of experiences in this field, and it includes a number of national, regional and international partners.

Discussions and reviews of international experiences

More than twenty keynote speakers from more than twenty countries participated in the Conference, which took place on May 23 and 24, in six main sessions. The participants presented the experiences practiced in their countries in order to find more solutions in the field of child helplines. For the first time, the children participated in managing the sessions as a distinct initiative adopted by the Center in order to give this category of males and females more confidence. The student Alanoud Mubarak Al Hitmi presented the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Child Helplines.

After the welcome speeches and within the opening ceremony, the CEO launched “AMAN Shield" platform project, the largest Arab cartoon web platform for child helplines services, which provides unique content on the treatment, rehabilitation and care of the targeted groups. In addition, it provides guidelines and advices on the use of artificial intelligence for children, parents, school specialists, as well as childcare workers. The implementation of the project is expected to continue until the end of the year. AMAN Center is keen to highlight the methods of awareness for the targeted groups, including women, children and victims of family breakdown. AMAN revealed that it has sponsored the child Nayef Al Hail, inventor of a color recognition robot. The Center is keen to adopt such creative cadres that contribute to diversity in prevention and awareness methods, especially for children. AMAN will develop the robot to suit the targeted children exposed to violence. All support will be given to the child Nayef Al Hail to develop his invention and consider it a method of social protection and rehabilitation.

During the opening ceremony, Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Ishaq – CEO of AMAN Center, was honored with the Award for the Most Prominent Arab Personality in the field of protecting children's rights in 2022, by UNICEF, which is based in Brussels. In the meeting of the Board of Directors held on April 13, Mr. Abdul Aziz bin Ibrahim Al Ishaq was chosen as the most prominent figure for the UNICEF's standards due to his practical experience of more than 12 years, his national and international efforts, and his effective participation in awareness-raising, media and administrative work in the field of child protection, in addition to his distinguished efforts in cooperation with international and regional organizations during the period in which he managed AMAN Center.

During the morning period of the first day of the Conference, three general sessions were held. The first session dealt with themes related to the approach of “AMAN" in child helplines, presented by the CEO of AMAN Center, Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Ishaq. Furthermore, Mr. Jab Dweik, Chairman of Child Helplines International, spoke about the challenges of working in the field of child helplines. Ms. Maryam Al Qasim, Child Protection Officer at UNICEF, participated with a paper entitled “Emergency Response to Help Children in Political Crises".

The second session focused on the challenges of child helplines in the Middle East, presented by Ms. Oheleh Schumer, the regional representative of Child Helplines International. Then, the experience of the Belgian helplines was discussed from the paper presented by Ms. Heidi De Boeux, CEO of Child Focus, on “Application Governance". The second paper, entitled “Using Corporal Punishment in Children's Education: Reality and Challenges", will be presented by Ms. Sarah Deghi from the General Commission for the Rights of the Child in Belgium.

The third session discussed the role of child helplines in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, in which Ms. Iman Erekat, President of International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Qatar, spoke. Dr. Basem Hatahet, CEO of UNICEF, presented a paper entitled “The importance of laws, regulations and policies in the governance and development of children protection tools". In addition, Dr. Sharifa Al Emadi, CEO of Doha International Family Institute, had an intervention with a paper entitled “COVID-19 repercussions on domestic violence". Ms. Helen Energate from the ISPCC concluded the session by reviewing her Organization's work model in the field of child helplines.

In the evening, a closed session was held under the title “The preparatory consultative meeting for the Stockholm meeting of members of the MENA Regional Office of Child Helplines International", in addition to two evening workshops.

The first workshop was presented by Dr. Wael Mahmoud from AMAN Center, entitled “Dealing with abuse in the school settings and mechanisms for reporting it", followed by the second workshop entitled “Creating child-oriented media campaigns", presented by Ahmed Al Malki, TV presenter and media skills trainer, to conclude the activities of the first day of the Conference, in addition to being an educational researcher. He highlighted the concepts and importance of child-oriented media campaigns and the most prominent messages that they publish to the child's community, explaining how to create an awareness campaign suitable for different age groups of children at the highest standards, with the public's participation in a proposal to design different child-oriented media campaigns with various values. He also reviewed the results of a questionnaire he prepared specifically for this workshop, targeting more than 130 individuals.

Attendees from international and regional organizations

The Conference witnessed a wide attendance from more than (30) international and regional organizations, including members of Child Helplines International, headed by the Dutch Mr. Jab Dweik, its Chairman, and, from the Netherlands, Mrs. Helen Mason, COO of UNICEF. In addition, the attendees includes members of the Regional Office of Child Helplines International from the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children, Mohamed Abu Shadi from the Egyptian National Council For Childhood & Motherhood, Iman Al Aqrabawi from the Jordan River Foundation, Dr. Mona Abdullah Al Khawari from the Child Protection Office of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health, Professor Tahani Abdul Rahman Al Mujhed from the National Family Safety Program of the Saudi Ministry of National Guard, and Mr. Abu Bakr Abdul Wahab Mohamed from the Sudanese Family and Child Protection Police Unit.

In addition, the attendees include Belgian Child Focus organization, UNICEF, the General Commission for Child Rights in the Federation of Wallonia, and the Irish organization ISPCC. The regional presence is represented by the Regional Network for Social Responsibility, represented by its Vice-Chairman. Furthermore, the attendees include the CEO of the Seventh Intelligence Center for Family and Educational Guidance, Ms. Jawaher Mohamed Al Laheeb, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at Al Zaytoonah University in Jordan, Dr. Haya Ali Al Masalha, Child Protection Delegate at the Ministry of Social Development in the Sultanate of Oman, Mr. Hamad Saif Al Hosani, Mr. Tariq Khalil Al Mahdi, CEO of My Country Foundation for Human Rights in Libya, the General Director of Childhood in the Ministry of Women, Family, Children and Seniors in Tunisia, Mr. Samir bin Al Manobi bin Maryam, the Kuwaiti Dr. Nasser Al Manea, the Secretary-General of UNICEF, in addition to the Kuwaiti Dr. Abdul Aziz Al Subaie, Chairman of UNICEF.

About the Protection and Social Rehabilitation Center (AMAN):

The Protection and Social Rehabilitation Center "AMAN" is a private institution of public benefit. In 2002, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Missned (may God protect her) established the Protection and Social Rehabilitation Center for the purpose of contributing to strengthening the protection and social rehabilitation system for the target groups under the name of the Qatar Foundation for the Protection of Women and Children. In 2013, its name was changed to be the “Protection and Social Rehabilitation Center "AMAN"".

The Protection and Social Rehabilitation Center "AMAN" is concerned with providing services to the target groups of victims of violence and family breakdown, including children, women and vulnerable people, according to the specific criteria for each group in the fields of social protection, awareness and education. For further legalization, the Center joined Qatar Social Work Foundation in 2013. The Center inspires the values of Qatar Social Work Foundation, which are privacy, professionalism, responsibility and partnership.

About Child Helplines International:

Child Helplines International is a non-profit organization founded in 2003, having its headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It has the supervisory capacity in the United Nations, and includes 181 members representing 147 countries, and all of them work under the slogan (Every Child has a Voice).