Children’s art to open three-day forum on drug abuse

Pupils from schools across the country were asked to participate in the three-day Hemaya International Forum on Drug Issues and they will be on-hand to explain their artworks to the 300 police officers and experts from 24 countries in attendance.

DUBAI // Schoolchildren are to display paintings and drawings depicting their understanding of drugs at a forthcoming police forum on the topic.

Pupils from schools across the country were asked to participate in the three-day Hemaya International Forum on Drug Issues and they will be on hand on the first day to explain their art to the 300 police officers and experts from 24 countries expected to attend from June 10.

Lt Col Abdulrahman Al Ansari, general coordinator of the forum, which is in its 10th edition, said that two exhibitions on drug awareness and prevention would be displayed at the event, which will be held at the Crowne Plaza on Sheikh Zayed Road.

“One gallery was done by official organisations, such as the UN and the Interior Ministry, while the other one displays pieces by students from different western and Arab schools in the UAE,” he said.

“The students have done drawings and paintings and have written letters to show what their understanding and awareness is when it comes to drugs and its prevention,” said Lt Col Al Ansari.

“Experts can benefit from the gallery by learning how youths think and by learning what their reactions are in order to reach them.

“Before, for example, the motto was ‘Say No to Drugs’, but we want to be able to provide them with something that is more relatable to them, and we can do that by knowing how they think.”

He said that just because a method had worked in the past, it did not mean that it would work now, in a fast-developing society, adding that they hoped to include the exhibition at different events throughout the year.

The drugs forum, which is being run by Dubai Police in association with the United Nations, will also discuss 14 working papers by people from a number of countries, including the UAE.

The aim is for the hundreds of police and experts in attendance, many of whom come from the 18 Arab countries involved, to share ideas and expertise on fighting the war on drugs.

On the first day, which will be open to the public, there will be two sessions.

The first will address developments, new trends of drug abuse and methods to prevent young people from starting to drugs, while the second will be about international standards of drug-abuse prevention.

Speakers from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime will include Wadih Maalouf, Geovanna Campbell and Asma Fakhri; and from the UAE Dr Ahmed Al Omoosh, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Sharjah University, Dr Ali Al Marzooqi, of the National Rehabilitation Centre in Abu Dhabi and Dr Amin Hussain Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Health for Medical Practices and Licensing.

Dr Inas Al Jafrawi, chief of the Drug Research Department in Egypt, and William Kreto, from Clermont University, in Cincinnati, United States, will also be on hand to share their thoughts.

The second and third days of the forum will include workshops on developing national strategies, preventative and reactionary, to tackle the scourge of drugs and will involve officials from entities that specialise in strategic planning and drug-prevention programmes.

Col Ibrahim Al Dibil, general coordinator of the Hemaya International programme, said that the issue of drugs had become more complicated than in the past.

“It is now necessary to lay a framework to deal with this issue, especially when it comes to prevention, and this is where the forum comes [into play],” he said.

“We need to further familiarise ourselves with the methods of prevention and the international standards for prevention.”

Col Eid Mohammed Thani Hareb said that the forum would be an opportunity to discuss working papers and bring experts together.

He also said there had been a number of cases of parents approaching Dubai Police about their children’s drug addictions.

Dubai Police has run several campaigns appealing to drug addicts to not be fearful of coming forward with their addictions, because they would not be prosecuted if they sought help.

“We always try to help them and coordinate with the relevant authorities and rehab centres in Abu Dhabi or Sharjah to get them help,” Col Hareb said.