Following an invitation from Al- Medina Municipality, a number of representatives of the MENA CPI participated in a workshop conducted in Al-Medina, entitled "Children and Youth in Al Madinah: A Hopeful Future". The workshop represents a milestone in current investments in the capacities of children and youth and urban planning of the future of Al-Medina. The workshop was jointly organized by the A-Medina Municipality and the MENA CPI, under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Migren bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, Prince of the Al-Medina region. The workshop was held on Wednesday and Saturday, 8th and 11th Jumada 1st , 1426 at Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Centre – the Association of Handicapped children.
The main objectives of the workshop consisted in conveying and outlining the MENA CPI projects and activities for Al-Medina, on behalf of all those concerned with Al-Medina region. The workshop also aimed to investigate and collect all useful information with the aim to incorporate it in the information base on the status quo of vulnerable children in Al-Medina; determine the problems confronting them and the convenient ways to address such problems; elaborate plans to enhance current projects; and implement newly proposed and scheduled projects according to local priorities and convenient ways to implement them in Al-Medina.
The workshop has included the following issues:
1. Determine the sources and tools for collecting data on children and its documentation; bridge the knowledge gap for all parties concerned with the initiative, and enhance the administrative capabilities of local authorities to enable them to address such issues in more adequate ways for an efficient implementation of CPI programmes and projects.
2. The CPI programme and projects in Al-Medina and the complementary roles undertaken in their elaboration, and the implementations of CPI programmes and projects by the concerned parties in Al-Medina.
3. The financing mechanisms of the MENA CPI, the management of expenditures on the elaboration and execution of CPI programmes and projects.
The workshop started with a preliminary meeting, held on Wednesday evening, 8th Jumada 1st, 1426 (15th June 2005), at the Prince Sultan Center at A-Medina, in which around one hundred participants concerned with children and youth issues participated.
The meeting was convened by Dr. Gamal Mahmoud Hamid, the CPI Director, who welcomed the participants and presented the AUDI and the CPI. A speech was also presented by Mr. Yahya Saif Saleh, Director of the Charity Organization for Social Welfare, at Al-Medina, in which he outlined the workshop objectives, bringing to view the results of some studies already undertaken in Al-Medina. In conjunction with this Dr. Othma Al-Hassan Mohammed Nour, the Advisor of the Initiative, presented a paper on effective methods of collection information data on children in Al-Median region.
His Excellency Mr. Abdul Aziz Al-Hassein, President of Al-Medina Municipality, opened the initial session of the workshop with a speech in which he conveyed his expectations regarding the recommendations to be made in the present workshop their implementation for the welfare of children and youth in Al-Medina region. Mr. Yahya Saif Saleh, Director of the Charity Organization for Social Welfare in Al-Median and Coordinator of the workshop, also made a speech in which he defined the workshop objectives and directives on dialogue amongst its participants.
The workshop was then divided into four sessions – two of which were conducted by female participants, one of which convened by Dr. Hind Khalifa, Advisor of the CPI. The other two sessions were conducted by male participants, one of which was conducted and convened by Dr. Gamal Mahmoud Hamid and Mr. Yassir Awad Al – Karim. About 50 participants participated in each session, during which were discussed the issues of working plans for the advantage of childhood in Al-Medina.
In the closing sessions of the workshop, held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Migren bin Abdul Aziz, Prince of Al-Medina region, Dr. Gamal Mahmoud Hamid gave a talk on the AUDI and the CPI in which he defined the CPI programmes, its objectives, and its future plans this was followed by an exposition of the workshop's recommendations, which underlined the following:
1. Establishing an executive committee under the umbrella of Al-Medina Municipality which would supervise the implementation of children and youth programmes and their follow-up.
2. Establishing a regional fund with the aim to provide financial support to those programmes and projects.
3. Coordinating with the local administration of urban affairs for Al-Medina region to incorporate all information addressing the situation of childhood in the region
4. Establishing a municipal council for children and youth in the region.
The closing session of the workshop also included a speech made by the Prince of Al-Median region in which he confirmed his commitment to support children in the region and conveyed his hope for the establishment of the first children's parliament in the Kingdom in Al-Medina and the activation of the recommendations issued in the workshop.
The MENA CPI representatives held two meetings on the margin of the workshop together with the Al-Medina Urban Observatory, through which they acquainted themselves with the nature of data and indexes as well as the modalities of cooperation involving the Urban Observatory and the CPI with the aim to incorporate new indexes concerning the situation of children in the Al-Medina region.
The CPI representatives then made a visit to the Al-Medina orphanage of Taiba children in the Al-Medina region through which they acquainted themselves with the situation of children in the village and the programmes available to them. Read media coverage about the event
Published: 26.08.2005