The private sector must step up to sponsor school and university education of young abuse survivors in shelters, says the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children.
In an appeal for support, DFWC said projects for abused children and women were stalled due to lack of funding.
“We need help from banks, the finance sector and other private companies. We can’t proceed with a lot of programmes. We need to pull them into conferences, to let them hear the pain we are talking about, for them to be our partners,” said Afra Al Basti, director general of the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children on the concluding day of a regional child protection summit in the emirate on Wednesday.
The non-profit shelter was established in 2007 to offer support to women and children victims of domestic violence, abuse and human trafficking.
Ms Al Basti said the sector was neglected with a need for more research, sustained follow-up and partnerships to provide education and rehabilitation to children and women.
“They (private sector) are not doing enough. As an NGO (nongovernment organisation) we struggle. A research study can cost us $100,000, it’s a big amount for us. We sometimes can’t enrol children because the fees are high so we can’t take them to private schools.
“This is only education fees, you also need supervision, transportation. But they (private sector) donate a small amount and that is not changing anything. We want them to sponsor a study, research, children’s education. We want them to make a big change in the life of a child.”
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