Aisha Al-Banna achieves “zero recidivism” and wins the “Dubai Quality Award”

Aisha Al-Banna, a juvenile specialist at the Sun Center for Juvenile Care and Rehabilitation, affiliated with the Community Development Authority in Dubai, revealed that the rehabilitation initiatives allocated to juvenile delinquents at the center include social, psychological, technological, educational and religious programmes, in addition to artificial intelligence skills.

She told Emirates Today, on the sidelines of the annual Dubai Quality Group Awards ceremony, that her honor in the “Young Employee” category came due to her success in reducing the rate of juvenile recidivism to “zero” through innovative rehabilitation programs.

She said that the center provides preventive programs for juvenile delinquents under the age of 18, who are followed up for a period of six months that can be extended, where an integrated plan is developed to rehabilitate the juvenile at home.

She added that the educational programs provided include the “Knowledge Champions” initiative and the “Literacy Eradication” initiative for juveniles aged 12 to 18 years of various nationalities within the center, noting that although these cases are rare, they are often linked to students’ irregular attendance at school and poor academic achievement.

She emphasized that empowering illiterate juveniles with the skills of reading and writing opens up horizons of ambition and gives them better opportunities for the future, as it is the first step towards success and rehabilitation, to become a good and active individual in society.

She pointed out that the family has an essential role in preventing child delinquency, by providing a positive environment and a culture of inclusion, in addition to investing leisure time correctly.

She also stressed the importance of the role of the family during the rehabilitation phase after the occurrence of delinquency, stressing that containing the child by his family is a major factor, as many children resort to wrong places in search of containment, which may expose them to bad companions or exploitation by adults.

Al-Banna mentioned the “Be Aware” program, which aims to educate parents and teenagers about juvenile laws and factors leading to delinquency, and is implemented in Dubai neighborhood councils.

She also referred to the “Positive Parenting” program, which is presented in cooperation with the Family Welfare Department, in addition to the “Renewal and Balance” program implemented by the Sun Center in schools and clubs that include the target age group, in addition to neighborhood councils in Dubai.

She added that the center monitored, as part of a special study for the prevention project, areas in which the number of juvenile delinquents or those at risk of delinquency is high, with a focus on neighborhood councils located in those areas.

She stressed the Center’s endeavor to expand the scope of awareness through rehabilitative and preventive programs, with the aim of reducing crime proactively, explaining that preventive programs target children of different ages in the Emirate of Dubai up to the age of 18 years. She also stressed the importance of legal empowerment of the family and the juvenile, by introducing them to the laws and legislation related to children and the family, and making them legally aware, in addition to setting controls and laws within the home, noting that sound education goes hand in hand with child protection laws and legislation related to the accountability of juveniles. Families are also socially educated on the best appropriate educational methods for dealing with children.

Dubai Quality Group had announced Aisha Al-Banna as the winner of the “Young Employee” category, in recognition of her outstanding contributions in the field of rehabilitation and integration of juveniles. She contributed to achieving a 100% success rate in reducing the return rate, through developing five specialized rehabilitation programs that included more than 300 training hours to modify behavior and enhance societal integration, in addition to preparing operational manuals for work, recording three intellectual works, and participating in more than 200 hours of volunteer work.