SHARJAH // Children’s faces are being painted to remind parents of the danger of not buckling up their kids as part of a Sharjah safety campaign.
The Strap Them Safe campaign is aimed at encouraging parents to protect their children with seat belts. Children helped police officers and other organisers on University Road to distribute flyers to motorists, with information about traffic laws and car seats for different ages.
The children had their faces painted with fake bruises and injuries to make a “large impact” on motorists and passers-by, organisers said.
Members of Sharjah Police, Sajaya Young Ladies of Sharjah, Sharjah Children Centres and the Supreme Council for Family Affairs child safety campaign took part in the initiative, launched under the directives of chairwoman of the council Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah.
“We have launched the initiative to raise awareness of the importance of providing children with special belt-positioning booster seats, ensuring their seatbelts are fastened and that they are well seated in the back seat of the vehicle,” said Hanadi Al Yafei, a department director at the council and head of the child-safety campaign’s organising committee.
A team from Funn, a Sharjah organisation to help youth become engaged in the arts, painted the children’s faces.
The campaign is in preparation for the implementation of amendments to the Federal Traffic Law approved by Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.
Motorists and passengers must fasten their seat belts and children under 4 should be provided with car seats, according to the amendments, which come into force on July 1.
Those that breach the law could face fines of Dh400 and four penalty points.
Road injuries are among the leading causes of death for children in the UAE.
nalramahi@thenational.ae
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
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