Aisha Mohammed Al Mulla, Chair of the Constitutional, Legislative Affairs and Appeals Committee of the Federal National Council, emphasized the importance of the Ministry of Justice’s policy on family guidance, which the Council will discuss at its seventh session today, Tuesday, at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi. This is important given that it touches on family issues, which require the collaboration of various sectors to achieve the best results. She explained that the lack of a unified professional license for counselors has pushed some to practice the profession via social media for financial gain. She said that the committee held 21 meetings and two discussion panels with the participation of family guidance specialists and community figures, during which they discussed the challenges facing family guidance and those working in this sector, and the appropriate solutions to overcome them. In addition, the committee met with representatives of various sectors involved in family guidance. The committee also reviewed numerous parliamentary studies that, together, helped prepare the detailed final report on the Ministry of Justice’s policy on family guidance, which focuses on the legislation and strategy related to family guidance. She explained that the report includes numerous observations and conclusions reached during its discussion of the topic, most notably the absence of a comprehensive national strategy for family guidance at the state level; the lack of a unified professional license for family counselors, which has prompted some individuals to practice the profession via social media for financial gain; the lack of interest in family guidance centers due to the absence of a system that ensures the confidentiality and privacy of clients; the lack of cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Community Protection in identifying the health and psychological status of clients at family guidance centers, which has negatively impacted the completion of reconciliation processes; the discrepancy in statistics related to family guidance; and the insufficient budgets allocated to family guidance initiatives. She said: Among the observations reached by the committee is the increase in divorce cases, which were observed to have decreased during the first year of the start of “remote” work, but then increased again. This requires further studies to determine the reasons behind this. This necessitates increasing the number of family counselors to strengthen family cohesion, especially in cases of dispute that could lead to divorce, which requires a role for family counselors. Aisha Al-Mulla added that the committee emphasized in its recommendations the need to amend the legislation regulating personal status to limit the number of lawsuits filed by wives seeking divorce, the need to review the requirements for the family counselor profession, and to ensure that they possess the social experience and skills, and that they pass specialized psychological tests that qualify them to work, increasing their numbers, issuing a unified professional license to practice the family counseling profession, the need to increase job privileges for the family counseling profession, and the importance of having an integrated strategy at the state level regarding family counseling.
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