What We Do.

The Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority aims to promote child development and wellbeing through four sectors: Health and Nutrition, Child Protection, Family Support, and Education and Early Care, from the initial stages of pregnancy to the age of eight.

Area of Our Focus

Family Support

Promote a stable and safe home environment by implementing more family support programs, providing services and resources, improving quality and standards of such programs, developing practitioner skills.

Health & Nutrition

Encourage children to adopt a healthy lifestyle by promoting healthy eating habits, physical activities, early screening, and treatment of health problems, while collecting data and conducting health research.

Early Care & Education

Improve early care and education quality, relevant standards, level of oversight, and control efforts by developing practitioner skills, implementing more relevant programs, and encouraging parents' engagement.

Child Protection

Develop a system ensures protecting children from harm and danger by raising public awareness about child abuse and neglect, developing practitioner skills, improving policies, and promoting children’s rights.

Family Support

Promote a stable and safe home environment by implementing more family support programs, providing services and resources, improving quality and standards of such programs, developing practitioner skills.

Health & Nutrition

Encourage children to adopt a healthy lifestyle by promoting healthy eating habits, physical activities, early screening, and treatment of health problems, while collecting data and conducting health research.

Early Care & Education

Improve early care and education quality, relevant standards, level of oversight, and control efforts by developing practitioner skills, implementing more relevant programs, and encouraging parents' engagement.

Child Protection

Develop a system ensures protecting children from harm and danger by raising public awareness about child abuse and neglect, developing practitioner skills, improving policies, and promoting children’s rights.

Who we are

We oversee the Early Childhood Development sector in Abu Dhabi with a mind that is committed to the highest standards and young children at the heart of all we do.

Our Role

We promote collaboration to help all of Abu Dhabi’s young children flourish.

Enabler

We broaden the capabilities of our partners to support holistic child development.

Policymaker

We develop coordinated and aligned policies and laws.

Knowledge Hub

We inform decision-making through research, data and evidence.

Disruptor

We transform how people think about and address the needs of young children.

Abu Dhabi's Early Childhood Development Strategy for 2035

Abu Dhabi wants to ensure children, parents, and caregivers have access to appropriate services to support optimal child development. It also aims to create a robust ecosystem to promote accountability and continuous quality improvement.

Strengthen the child protection system from prevention to rehabilitation

Develop a unified child protection system for Abu Dhabi that offers coherent strategies for preventing abuse and neglect, reporting cases efficiently and effectively, and providing treatment and rehabilitation as needed.

Enhance support for parents and primary caregivers

Equip parents and primary caregivers with the knowledge, skills and resources needed to build their capabilities to promote the healthy development of their children. This includes interventions to foster positive interactions and effective parenting and caregiver practices, eliminate misconceptions, enhance their ability to detect potential developmental delays or medical concerns, and provide professional resources for all of the above.

Create an Early Childhood Development policy and legislation ecosystem

Design a dedicated process for ECD-related policy and legislation development that is proactive, iterative, participatory, evidence-based and has strong enforcement and implementation components. In addition, review and adjust current policies and legislation and issue new policies or legislation as required to fill existing ECD-related gaps, promote high-quality services and strong child outcomes.

Develop a comprehensive human capital strategy

Develop a comprehensive strategy to ensure Abu Dhabi has a high-quality Early Childhood Development workforce with sufficient skills and in sufficient numbers to ensure the effective implementation and delivery of the Emirate’s ECD Strategy 2035.

Create systems and platforms to drive excellence and innovation

Create systems and platforms to collect, track and use data to provide up-to-date information about children, parents, the ECD workforce, and services as well as a high-functioning ECD monitoring and evaluation strategy to use the data to assess the quality of ECD services.

Develop a comprehensive research ecosystem

Develop and implement a high-functioning ECD research strategy to inform evidence-based policymaking and support planning and quality improvement.

Create a widespread public engagement strategy

Develop and launch a comprehensive, long-term public engagement strategy to enhance awareness of the importance of the early years, build the capabilities of parents and other adults to support child well-being, and foster changes in behavior to benefit children. To ensure widespread support and appreciation of ECD, the strategy will focus on parents, caregivers, practitioners, academics, professionals, businesses, policymakers, the general public and children.

Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority Board of Trustees

H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Member of the Executive Council
Chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court
Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority

H.H. Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Member

H.H. Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Member

H.E. Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohamed Al Hamed

Member of the Executive Council Chairman of the Department of Health Member

H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili

Member of the Executive Council Chairman of the Department of Community Development Member

H.E. Sara Awad Issa Musallam

Member of the Executive Council Chairman of the Department of Education and Knowledge Member

H.E. Chancellor Ali Mohammed Abdullah Al Balooshi

Attorney General of Abu Dhabi Member

H.E. Al Reem Abdullah Al Falasi

Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood Member

The inspiration behind our logo

As with all our work, we keep young children at the heart of all we do. And our logo is no exception. The icon forms the shape of a balancing child, implying stability and suggesting development, achievement, strength and growth. The logo, once rotated 90 degrees, also represents the first letters of the full name of the Authority in Arabic.

Our logo is also inspired by the typeface created by Nasri Khattar in the 1950s. He created it as a way to help make the Arabic language more accessible and easier to learn and won a Nobel Prize for this effort.