The Department of Community Development has held a ceremony to celebrate the first batch of 111 graduates of the Capacity Building Program for Social Care Professionals, which was developed in cooperation with United Arab Emirates University (UAEU).

The ceremony was held in Manarat Al Saadiyat, in the presence of His Excellency Eng. Hamad Al Dhaheri, Undersecretary of the Department of Community Development; Her Excellency Maryam Al Rumaithi, Director General of the Family Development Foundation; His Excellency Abdullah Al Ameri, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Social Support Authority; representatives from UAEU and a number of leaders from the social sector in Abu Dhabi

Her Excellency Dr. Layla Al Hyas, Executive Director of the Community Development Sector at the DCD, said: "The Capacity Building Program for Social Care Professionals is one of the department's strategic programmes concerned with developing the skills and competencies of professionals working in the social sector in Abu Dhabi.

“We had planned to start the program after setting the standards for licensing professionals and establishing a licensing project to identify the needs of social care professionals in the social sector, and the field of capacity and skills development.

“The integrated Capacity Building Program was planned in cooperation with the College of Humanities and Social Science at UAEU, through three professional diploma programmes, namely Social Work, Psychology and the Family and Marriage Counseling Diploma. These programmes are in line with the social care categories approved by the department, namely social services specialist, specialist psychologist and social worker.”

The 111 social care professionals who obtained a temporary licence from the DCD were from six entities, namely the Family Development Foundation, Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination, Family Care Authority, Abu Dhabi Centre for Sheltering and Humanitarian Care - Ewaa, Abu Dhabi Social Support Authority, Zayed House for Islamic Culture, as well as Abu Dhabi Police.

The DCD hopes to encourage social care professionals to join the program and ensure the quality and continuity of services, while providing a decent quality of life for those who require these services.