He criticized "the sector's weak budget" and called for activating the "unified services" platform.
Parliamentary report calls for a strategy for “family guidance”
The Council will discuss the issue of the Ministry of Justice's policy on family guidance.
From the source
Aisha Al Mulla: “The committee recommended reviewing the requirements of the profession of family counselor.”
picture
Today, the Federal National Council will hold its seventh session of the third ordinary session of the 17th legislative term, headed by the Speaker of the Council, Saqr Ghobash, to discuss the issue of the Ministry of Justice’s policy on family guidance, in the presence of the Minister of Justice, Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al-Nuaimi, and a number of the ministry’s leaders and government representatives.
The head of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs and Appeals Committee in the parliament, Aisha Muhammad Al-Mulla, confirmed that the council will discuss the issue through three main axes, including “the relevant legislation and strategy,” “coordination between the Ministry of Justice and the authorities concerned with family guidance,” and “the ministry’s efforts to introduce the importance of The role of family guidance centers and family counselors.
Al Mulla told "Emirates Today" that "the committee was keen, before preparing and approving its final report on the issue of family guidance, which it submitted to the council for discussion, to study the issue from its various aspects, and to stand on the challenges and problems facing this file, as we held meetings with officials in the relevant authorities." related to the family guidance sector, and we also organized a public panel discussion under the title The Reality of Family Guidance in the State, to listen to the opinions and observations of specialists and community personalities, which helped us to monitor most of the challenges in this sector, and the best appropriate solutions to overcome them.
She added: "The committee's final report included a number of observations, most notably the absence of an integrated national strategy for family guidance at the state level, which led to the lack of a unified policy in providing services by family guidance centers, the difference in some family guidance work systems in the courts, and the lack of coordination between The Ministry of Justice and other entities concerned with family guidance, which led to the discrepancy and differences in family guidance procedures between the federal courts, as well as the weak budgets allocated to family guidance projects and initiatives, and the lack of fixed standards for measuring the quality of the work of family guidance offices and family mentors, which led to different policies related to Rehabilitation and training of family counselors.
The list of observations, according to Al-Mulla, also included, “The family guidance regulation did not include the requirements of experience and psychological state required to appoint family mentors, which negatively affected their efficiency in dealing with family disputes, the weak salaries of family mentors, and their weak job privileges, which led to a lack of turnout for these family mentors.” The profession, as well as submitting the resignations of some of those who were appointed and moved to work in other agencies, and the lack of a unified professional license for family mentors, such as a professional diploma or a bachelor’s degree, commensurate with the specialization, and recognized by the Ministry of Education, and what it includes of competency requirements, and scientific merit. This resulted in some individuals practicing this profession, through social media, for financial gain, in addition to overestimating the value of their counseling sessions.”
The observations also included, “the absence of separate buildings dedicated to family guidance, in addition to the failure to activate the electronic family guidance platform for the Ministry of Justice, which links the federal authorities with the local authorities, which led to the lack of connection between the federal and local courts with regard to family guidance, The absence of a unified database, and the disparity of statistics and data between the authorities concerned with family guidance, which led to the difficulty of preparing research and social studies related to family dispute issues, their causes, effects, and the role of family guidance offices in this regard.
Al-Molla stressed that the report included a number of parliamentary recommendations, the most important of which is the need to amend the legislation governing personal status - Federal Law No. (28) of 2005 - and the amending laws thereof, and the related bylaws and regulations, to ensure that these legislations keep pace with social and economic changes, and to develop the role of family guidance committees and to enable it to provide specialized counseling services, especially reviewing Article (118) and Article (120) of Federal Decree-Law No. (8) of 2019 Personal Status Law, and Federal Decree-Law No. (5) of 2020 amending some provisions of Federal Law No. (28) ) for the year 2005 regarding personal status, which allowed the judge to reject the divorce case if he did not prove to him any real harm to one of the parties, with the aim of reducing cases of divorce to harm, which resulted in an increase in the number of lawsuits filed by wives for divorce, and the prolongation of the litigation that resulted It had negative effects on the family, as it led to its instability.
The committee recommended reviewing the requirements of the profession of family counselor stipulated in Article (8) of Ministerial Resolution No. (554) of 2021 regarding the Family Guidance Regulations, especially considering that he pass specialized psychological tests that qualify him to work in this field, in addition to the other tests prescribed in this field. He should not have judicial precedents in personal family disputes before the courts, as well as consider the number of years of scientific, practical and social experience, and that at least five years have passed since his marriage to ensure that he possesses the expertise and social skills necessary for reform.
It also recommended working to increase the functional privileges of the family guidance profession, similar to the "notary public", to encourage the practice of this profession.
And work to increase the budgets allocated to family guidance projects and initiatives, to ensure the achievement of their strategic objectives, and to measure the effectiveness of these projects and initiatives.
The recommendations also included the establishment of a coordinating committee under the supervision of the ministry, aimed at cooperating with the authorities concerned with family guidance (federal - local - private), to ensure the unification of family guidance procedures in the courts, the stages of reconciliation and guidance, and setting standards for the efficiency of family guidance committees and centers, and rehabilitation and training programs and the establishment of a unified database between the authorities concerned with family guidance (federal, local and private), and the obligation to archive their data to prepare research and social studies related to family issues, in addition to activating the “family guidance” electronic platform to link between the ministry and federal and local authorities, to ensure the link between Files of the families of litigants in various state courts.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news