Dubai, UAE – The Community Development Authority (CDA) in Dubai achieved a 95% reconciliation rate through its Family Counselling Service during the first eight months of 2026, reflecting the effectiveness of specialised family counselling and early intervention in supporting family stability and strengthening families’ ability to address challenges at an early stage.
From January through the end of August 2026, the Authority provided 456 family consultations through 2,280 counselling sessions, contributing to reconciliation in 435 cases. The results highlight the positive impact of the service and its role in providing families with specialised support.
The service continues to achieve high reconciliation rates, having recorded a reconciliation rate of approximately 94% in 2025, reflecting the sustained positive impact of family support and counselling services.
Prevention and Early Intervention
The Family Counselling Service reflects the Community Development Authority’s approach to building a more proactive social ecosystem that strengthens prevention and early intervention, while providing families with specialised support at the right time. This enables families to better manage challenges and maintain their stability and cohesion.
This approach is aligned with the Community Development Authority’s Corporate Strategy 2027–2031, which adopts the vision of “Pioneering and sustainable development for a thriving community” and places family formation and stability, as well as strengthening families’ ability to navigate challenges, among its strategic priorities. It also supports the development of an integrated ecosystem that accompanies families throughout their different stages.
The service also supports the objectives of the Dubai Family-Friendly Strategy, which aims to develop an integrated ecosystem that supports families throughout their different stages, strengthens family stability and enhances quality of life. This is aligned with the objectives of the Dubai Social Agenda 33, which places the family at the heart of social development and seeks to strengthen family cohesion, stability and the quality of life of its members.
Her Excellency. Hessa bint Essa Buhumaid, Director General of the Community Development Authority in Dubai, said: “We view family counselling as a preventive tool before it becomes a means of addressing conflict. Accessing specialised support at the right time strengthens a family’s ability to understand challenges and address them with greater awareness, contributing to its stability and cohesion.”
Her Excellency added: “We are working to build an integrated ecosystem that accompanies families throughout their different stages, in line with the objectives of the Dubai Family-Friendly Strategy and Dubai Social Agenda 33, and our strategic focus on prevention and proactivity. We measure the success of our services by the positive and sustainable impact they create in the lives of families, and by their ability to strengthen family cohesion and quality of life.”
Dr Ahmed Al Hashemi, CEO the Regulation and Community Services Sector at the Community Development Authority, said: “The results achieved through the Family Counselling Service highlight the importance of providing specialised support at an early stage, as part of an integrated ecosystem that accompanies families throughout their different stages and responds to their needs, strengthening their ability to manage challenges and maintain stability.”
He added: “We are developing more proactive and accessible social services, and measuring their effectiveness through the impact they create. Reconciliation in 435 cases over eight months is an important indicator of the impact of specialised counselling and its role in supporting family stability.”
An Integrated Family Support Journey
The Community Development Authority provides access to its Family Counselling Service through the DubaiNow application, Customer Happiness Centres and the 8002121 contact centre, offering individuals and families multiple accessible channels to obtain specialised support.
The service journey begins with the submission of a counselling request, followed by communication with the client to listen to the case and understand their needs. The appropriate counselling pathway is then identified, whether through a single session or a series of sessions, based on a plan that takes into account the needs and privacy of each case.
Dr Naama Al Shamsi, Director of the Family Development Department at the Community Development Authority, said: “Family counselling is based on understanding the needs of each case and providing specialised support tailored to those needs. This helps family members strengthen communication and develop sustainable solutions that support family stability and cohesion.”
She added: “We are working to promote a culture of family counselling as a conscious and preventive choice, and to encourage families to access specialised support at the right time. This strengthens their ability to address challenges and maintain their quality of life.”
The service aims to strengthen family relationships and help individuals and couples address various challenges that may affect family stability and children, through counselling and guidance provided by specialists in the psychological and social fields.
Key topics addressed through the service include spousal relationships and communication, family responsibilities, parenting, financial matters and other issues related to family stability and the quality of life of family members.
The CDA emphasised that promoting a culture of seeking family counselling at the right time forms part of its social prevention approach. It provides families with the tools and knowledge needed to strengthen dialogue and understanding and manage challenges, supporting family stability, cohesion and quality of life.
SOURCE: MEDIA REPORT / SUPPLIED CONTENT WITH IMAGES
