• Tuesday, September 01,2015

MOI: HEMAYATI Application to communicate with children around-the-clock

The Ministry of Interior renewed its call for parents to use the HEMAYATI (meaning my protection’) smartphone application with the start of the new school year in order to protect and enhance the safety of children. The application allows parents to communicate with their children around-the-clock, and includes a built-in feature that enables children to send distress calls to their parents when they feel threatened. It also provides the ability to forward the signal to Operation Rooms with a single click in the form of a Smart SOS , which will be given priority with a response time of only four minutes.

The HEMAYATI Application is available at the Apple Store for iOS compatible iPhones and iPads, and at Google Play for Android compatible smartphones. The smart application embodies the directives and efforts of the police leadership to use smart technology within the framework of the Federal Government’s UAE Vision 2021. The vision aims to rank the UAE as one of the safest countries in the world by achieving a total sense of security and safety, and by reducing response time for emergency calls to just four minutes. By employing the latest technological means, the government aims to achieve the Abu Dhabi 2030 vision, which would place the UAE Government as one of the top five e-governments in the world. 

Through providing children with the ability to directly call their parents for help when they feel threatened; the HEMAYATI Application denotes the keenness of the Ministry of Interior to improve customer services and to achieve its vision according to the UAE’s National Agenda for the next seven years in the fields of police and security work.

Lt. Colonel Faisal Mohammed Al Shammari, Executive Director of the MoI’s Smart Government Program, explained that the use of the application requires registration in the HEMAYATI system. To do so, the user must enter their ID number, and upon receiving a message with a PIN code generated by the system, the user must enter the PIN. This process verifies the identity of the phone owner. The registration is completed directly through the application itself. The user can send an invitation message to add his wife to the account. To do so, the user should enter the wife’s ID number and e-mail address. The wife will then receive an e-mail containing a link with the terms of use and conditions, which she should accept in order to complete the registration process. In order to add a new member to a group, enter the person’s ID number, and press Add Location . To add a location, the user may press the + sign, and enter the location name. The user may also navigate the map to find the location, by using the Use Current Location to find the user’s location on the map. Finally, press Add Location . 

He noted that the HEMAYATI Application can be activated by parents only. It is specifically designed to enhance the protection of children and to help parents locate their children when they are lost – it is not meant to be imposed as a type of censorship, he said. Installing the application on family members’ phones must be done through mutual consent, and by their own discretion. He continued by advising parents to communicate with their children, and to emphasize and convince them on the advantages and importance of this service that ensures their safety.

To download and install the application, just search the word HEMAYATI in the Apple Store for iPhones and in Google Play for Android phones, he said. 

Similarly, and to coincide with the return of the school year, the Ministry of Interior’s Child Protection Centre (CPC) urged parents to guide and raise the levels of awareness for their school-going children in regards to the rules and requirements of general safety when at schools and in school buses. The CPC recommends that parents protect their children by educating them about the dangers that they may face by deepening the concept of safety. Children should also be reminded to abide by public safety guidelines and be made aware of the consequences that follow negative behaviors. 

Major Dr. Mohammed Khalifa Al Ali, Director of the Ministry of Interior’s Child Protection Centre, emphasized the need to strengthen preventative measures to protect children by spreading traffic awareness among students, especially when they gather near the street to wait for school buses. Noting that such gatherings pose threats to their safety, he said: Be careful when boarding or disembarking from buses, don’t rush and push or pull each other, because you may fall down. Do not chase or grab on to moving buses, as this could lead to a run-over accident.  

He pointed to the family’s social role in educating children about public safety and the laws and regulations of traffic in manners that are commensurate with their age and maturity levels. He recommended that families provide guidance about safe passage; where to stand on sidewalks; how to ensure that the street is empty by looking in both directions before crossing the street; cross the road in a straight line and move moderately quickly; and to avoid crossing in unsafe places, such as in front of or between vehicles, on side roads, or in hidden areas. He also said to abide by the rules when riding in the car, to always wear a seat belt, and to not tamper with or inconvenience the driver or others within the car.