UAE President honors institutions awarded ‘Parent-Friendly Label'
During the event, held at Qasr Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi, His Highness congratulated the winning institutions and underlined the importance of strengthening organisational awareness around the need to establish parent-friendly workplaces. He noted that such environments are a vital component of a positive institutional culture, helping to strike a balance between parenting responsibilities and professional obligations. This, he said, enables parents to fulfil their family roles while also pursuing their career goals.
His Highness, who was also briefed on the programme's objectives and the outcomes of its current cycle, expressed his appreciation for the strong level of engagement shown by the participating institutions.
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Sharjah 24
15-07-2025
- Sharjah 24
UAE President honors institutions awarded ‘Parent-Friendly Label'
His Highness' remarks came as he honoured institutions awarded the 'Parent-Friendly Label' by the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA) during the programme's third cycle. The ceremony also included a reception for members of the programme's judging panel and several ECA employees. During the event, held at Qasr Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi, His Highness congratulated the winning institutions and underlined the importance of strengthening organisational awareness around the need to establish parent-friendly workplaces. He noted that such environments are a vital component of a positive institutional culture, helping to strike a balance between parenting responsibilities and professional obligations. This, he said, enables parents to fulfil their family roles while also pursuing their career goals. His Highness, who was also briefed on the programme's objectives and the outcomes of its current cycle, expressed his appreciation for the strong level of engagement shown by the participating institutions.
Zawya
18-06-2025
- Zawya
It takes a village: Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Week to highlight childhood, community and connection
Abu Dhabi, UAE – Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes' Affairs and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA), the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA) and its partners will host the 2nd Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Week 2025, an Emirate-wide series of community activations, taking place from 17 - 23 November 2025. Under the theme Together We Can Make Abu Dhabi a Family-friendly Emirate, the week will serve as a platform for public and private sector partners to co-create and offer enriching experiences for families and young children. The Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Week 2025 embodies ECA's vision where every young child can flourish, to their full potential, in a safe and family-friendly environment. The week creates space for collaboration, shared action, and joyful connection, while aligning with the UAE's Year of Community by encouraging everyone to take part. The 2024 edition saw a remarkable response: over 25,000 families participated, more than 70 activations were hosted across the Emirate, and 1,000+ global attendees contributed to a vibrant exchange of ideas, innovation, and storytelling. Building on this momentum, the 2025 edition aims to deepen impact, broaden reach, and inspire even more engagement. While the 2024 edition included a global forum, a gathering of early childhood researchers and an Early Childhood Development Fair (biannual activities), the 2025 edition aims to create targeted impact on the grassroots level by engaging the community, through activations, across the Emirate. 'In the first 1,000 days, a child's brain forms over a million connections every second - these are the moments that shape a lifetime. We also know that investing in the early years is an investment in our nation's future. It helps lay the foundations for healthier, more resilient societies, stronger economies, and empowered future generations who will carry the UAE's legacy forward,' said Her Excellency Sana bint Mohamed Suhail, Minister of Family and Director General of the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority. 'This November, Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Week invites every family, caregiver, community member and organization to be part of something truly special. Through playful experiences and interactive activations across the Emirate, we will be shining a light on the importance of the early years of a child. The Week will be an excellent opportunity for organizations to actively participate, co-create and contribute. Come out, take part, and contribute to our collective mission to make Abu Dhabi family-friendly,' Suhail added. Key themes during the Week will include: Spending quality time with children Nurturing cultural identity and heritage Using Technology and AI to support, not replace, real-life connection Creating more family-friendly spaces across the Emirate Reaching communities throughout Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and Al Dhafra region, Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Week 2025 will transform public spaces into playgrounds of learning and wonder, turning everyday places into opportunities for parents and caregivers to connect with their children. The ECA invites organizations to co-create and offer enriching experiences throughout the week that are age-appropriate, child-centered, encouraging play, hands-on and interactive, culturally relevant, and encourage parent-child bonding. Organizations interested in contributing to this Week can register their interest by emailing ADECWeek@ The Week's partners as well as the schedule of community activations will be announced closer to the Week. About the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority The Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority, established in 2019, promotes optimal child development and wellbeing, from the early stages of pregnancy to the age of eight. We influence policies, inform decision-making through research, incubate innovative ideas, all while enabling the Early Childhood Sector and navigating the impact it's making. We focus on Health and Nutrition, Child Protection, Family Support, Education and Early Care. Our vision is that every young child can flourish to their full potential in a safe and family-friendly environment. For More Information: Musaab Abdulla, Outreach and Partnerships Department
The National
27-05-2025
- The National
We should raise children to be tech-savvy – but also digitally healthy
In today's interconnected world, technology is everywhere – at home, in schools and on playgrounds. That means for children growing up in the digital age, technology isn't just a tool, it's part of their daily lives from infancy. While this reality brings incredible opportunities for learning and connection, we can't ignore the challenges it poses for parents trying to nurture their young children. As highlighted by the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA) during our Digital Well-being Symposium held last month in collaboration with New York University Abu Dhabi, it is crucial for parents to foster healthy digital habits within their families from an early age to ensure children's well-being online. As part of this, responsible technology use must start early, with the well-being of our youngest children front of mind. Children born today are digital natives and will continue to benefit from incredible advances in technology as they grow up. By engaging with digital media in the right way they can enjoy its capability to support learning, language development, and social skills – and because of this most parents see technology as a positive force in their children's lives. Indeed, the Digital Use Survey, whose findings we launched at the symposium, found that most parents (70 per cent) are satisfied with their young children's screen time, especially when it is educational or culturally relevant. But we can't ignore the risks. There is, of course, another side to this story, with recent TV series and other forms of pop culture entertainment sparking a global conversation about the potentially devastating impact of social media on young people. This underscores a current knowledge gap in what constitutes the building blocks of healthy digital habits. Through its World Early Childhood Development Movement, the ECA is focusing on spotlighting the needs and experiences of young children, from birth to the age of eight, in digital well-being conversations. We are doing this by trying to address gaps and myths that exist by conducting in-depth research and amplifying our findings regarding young children's engagement with media. We want to ensure that the actual facts about today's young children and their media use are incorporated into the crucial discussions from which this age group is often left out. Children born today will benefit from incredible advances in technology as they grow up. But we can't ignore the risks If we want children to develop healthy digital habits, we must first create the right framework to support responsible use of technology in early childhood. We can do this by encouraging and enabling conversations around, and even more importantly with, young children and their experiences with digital tools. We can develop the research to inform policies and strategies that put the well-being of our young citizens first, so they can grow up in a world that embraces the myriads of opportunities offered by technology. There are also practical things we can be doing as parents and caregivers. For example, it may be necessary to moderate the duration to ensure they spend adequate time on other developmental activities such as exercise, offline play, school, books, time with friends and family and quality sleep. Or parents can engage in technology use with their young children. This is especially important in early childhood as it gives the opportunity to model appropriate online behaviours such as protecting personal information and show appropriate and fun ways to use technology and when to stop. Technology is woven into the fabric of modern childhood, and that is not going to change. But how children use technology, and how it shapes their development, depends largely upon us as citizens and parents, as educators and innovators. We need to create evidence-based guidelines and frameworks related to digital media and AI, strategies for creating high-quality digital content that prioritise young children's learning and development, as well as explore key requirements to help initiate the draft of a culturally informed ratings framework for digital media and technology. By embracing further research into young children's digital well-being, we'll ensure we have the right framework to ensure children are engaging with the digital world safely, setting clear boundaries, choosing quality content and balancing digital with real-world activities, so we can raise children who are not just tech-savvy but digitally healthy. The goal is to empower our children to use screens wisely, building a foundation for a balanced, happy and connected life in a digital world.
