Prioritizing Children's Rights and Education in Oman: Initiatives and Collaborative Efforts for Holistic Development
Executive Summary
The Sultanate of Oman has placed great emphasis on the care and development of children by taking measures such as designating 2012 as the year of the child and issuing the Omani Child Law in 2014, which underscored the importance of children´s rights, particularly the right to education. The country provides free and compulsory education for children in the basic education stage and private education options for kindergarten institutions, which families can invest in for their children´s education from an early age. The Children First Society collaborates with the Ministry of Education to instill values and encourage creative thinking among schoolchildren. Additionally, the Children First Association conducts various awareness-raising programmes like workshops, lectures, meetings, and training courses for children and families across Oman.
Implementation
The activities and programmes implemented by the association include workshops, training courses, awareness lectures, competitions, and scientific and recreational meetings with children and families. Members of the association who are volunteers and specialists implement programmes and activities. They provide their services to children and their families free of charge. There is an annual budget for the association used to finance the costs of its programmes. It supported by the state, private sector institutions, and individual donations that reach it from the community.
Stakeholders and partners involved
Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and the UNICEF office in Muscat
Impact
All children benefit from the association’s programmes, whose number reaches nearly one-third of the population in the country, whose number exceeds one million.
Innovations
Government Cooperation, Facility Provision, and Private Sector Support to Empower Children and Family
The existence of government support and assistance and the cooperation of government institutions whose work is related to children and their families. Providing various facilities for programme implementation.Supporting the private sector and its participation in the implementation of programmes. The presence of volunteer members and specialists in the association who wish to serve children and their families.