Peer-reviewed article
Policies and programmes to promote child well-being in the Gulf countries
Anis Ben Brik, Jennifer E. Lansford, Heba Al Fara ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This article reviews policies and programmes that promote child well-being in the six Gulf countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It describes the international agenda, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, and national strategies that frame country-specific programmes. It identifies challenges and gaps in programmes, and makes recommendations across seven domains of child well-being.
Key points
- The review covers Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- International goals (e.g. the Sustainable Development Goals) and national strategies provide the broad policy frameworks for country programmes.
- Identified challenges and gaps relate to child disabilities, regional disparities, enforcement, monitoring and evaluation, and multisectoral coordination.
- Recommendations are given for seven domains: physical health, behavioural adjustment, psychological well-being, social relationships, safety, cognitive well-being and economic security.
Limitations
Only the abstract is available, so the review methods, the specific programmes covered and the detailed evidence behind the recommendations are not known. It is a policy and programme review and does not appear to test the effect of any single intervention.
Abstract
This article provides a review of policies and programmes to promote child well-being in the Gulf Countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). An overview is provided of the international agenda (e.g. the Sustainable Development Goals) and national strategies as they provide broad policy frameworks in which country-specific programmes are designed to work toward the policy goals. Challenges to child well-being and gaps in programmes to promote child well-being in the Gulf countries are related to child disabilities; regional disparities; enforcement, monitoring, and evaluation; and multisectoral coordination. Recommendations are provided to promote child well-being in seven domains: (1) physical health; (2) behavioural adjustment; (3) psychological well-being; (4) social relationships with parents, peers, and non-family adults; (5) safety; (6) cognitive well-being; (7) economic security.