The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, ADJD, has stepped up its efforts in support of the Family Guidance programmes by launching the “Reconciliation is Better” [than divorce] initiative which aims to help families resolving their conflicts and overcome the difficulties they may face in innovative ways and through means that contribute to reduce the divorce cases.
The programme consists in holding intensive family counselling sessions delivered by social, psychological and legal mentors, training workshops enhanced with multimedia content and interactive exercises to acquire the skills that enable reducing marital conflicts, in addition to a follow-up plan to ensure compliance with the reconciliation agreements concluded and remove any obstacles that might arise during the enforcement of the said agreements.
Youssef Saeed Al Abri, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, indicated that the ADJD takes a special interest in implementing programmes that support the achievement of family stability and cohesion, in implementation of the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, President of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, to strengthen any initiatives aimed at ensuring social cohesion starting from the family as the nucleus of society and the basis for its development, so as to ensure the continuation of the process of development and prosperity of the UAE.
The “Reconciliation is Better” family programme, Al-Abri explained, aims to raise the level of awareness and education for the families in the context of the changes they are going through to enable them to overcome the difficulties they may face, using advanced and innovative methods, especially in cases where the family unit faces obstacles that can lead to the breakup of the family bonds and divorce. The initiative also focuses on highlighting all negative effects of divorce on family members and society and more particularly on children who are the basis of any nation, Al Abri said.
The “Reconciliation is Better” programme is a tool intended to help and enable spouses to resolve the disputes that arise between them, using the best practices and amicable methods, away from the courts. Concretely, the programme consists in several counselling sessions at the Family Guidance Section by specialised social, psychological and legal counselors to review and discuss the marital problems, explore their causes and suggest the necessary remedies as part of treatment plans that take into account the changes that the family is going through in order to enable it solving any problem it may face in the future.
The programme also includes several innovative training workshops enhanced with multimedia content and interactive exercises, which are carried out in several steps.
The first step aims to teach the spouses how to acquire skills that reduce marital conflicts and enhance family cohesion through a workshop teaching the “Art of Marital Conflict Management” and another on the “Rights and Duties within the Family”.
The second step aims at reducing divorce cases and is unfolded in the form of awareness training workshops: “Divorce is not a Solution”, “Risks to the Family and Society” and the “Impact of Divorce on Children”.
The third step also includes awareness workshops aimed at supporting the family in the event of failure to reach reconciliation, and addresses the ideal parenting and effective positive communication skills.
The “Reconciliation is Better” initiative also offers a follow-up plan for the parties after the end of the previous steps to verify how compliant were the parties with the agreement they have concluded in the event of reconciliation, and to try to remove any barriers that might arise during the enforcement. It also focuses, in cases of revocable divorce, on discussing the marriage reinstatement if possible and, in case the couple has children, on following up the parents / children relationship and assessing the nature of care children are receiving from their parents. The feasibility of the programme and its impact on achieving family cohesion is also assessed as a final step.
