Qatar is keen to develop laws on child rights, says minister

HE the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs Dr Issa Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi reiterated Qatar’s keenness to develop and update its laws and legislation related to child rights to comply with the international standards.

During a forum on safe childhood organised by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA), in co-operation with Qatar Social Work Foundation, the minister said under the wise leadership of His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Qatar does not spare any effort in giving importance to all child rights, on a legislative and institutional level.

At the forum, held at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC), the minister said the Qatari constitution and other laws included many provisions that consider family, maternal and child rights.

He added that Qatar ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and made it part of its internal law. It also joined the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of child, child prostitution and child pornography and the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of child in Armed Conflict (OPAC), he said.

The minister said the State has endeavoured to put into practice the basic principles and provisions of the convention and its protocols to protect and promote the rights of the child.

He reiterated the importance of enriching child culture, consolidating, promoting and protecting child rights and extracting their creative energy to create a new generation that is able to lead in the future. “This contributes to finding a generation able to positively interact with the society, adheres to the culture of the surrounding community which serves the family and particularly the child.”

The minister said achieving all these goals requires combining efforts and joint work in all sectors of the society, especially the parents and family. “In addition to educational institutions, preachers, media outlets, civil organisations and the overall environment of the society,” he added.

He revealed that the ministry is putting all the required efforts to promote and protect the right of the child and development. “It is also working on updating the programmes that guarantee all rights, which comply with Qatar National Vision 2030, that aims to make the state able to achieve sustainable development.”
He referred to the ministry’s keenness to spread social awareness and raise the intellectual, factual and behavioural level in children throughout Qatari society.

“The ministry is also keen to achieve the principle of solidarity and social cohesion through spreading community awareness of the concept of social protection and rehabilitation of delinquents in addition to how to deal with those who are vulnerable to deviation and help them to follow the proper behaviour which creates them as individuals who can communicate constructively with previous and coming generations.”

The minister expressed his hope for the activities of the forum to be full of educational, social, health, cultural, skills, intellectual, creative and literary scenes among children in Qatar in various fields.

HE al-Nuaimi also expressed his hope that this forum will lead to the development of plans to achieve a safe childhood and a promising future for children in Qatar.

The forum called for the importance of accelerating the enactment of the children’s law and providing an updated legislative base for the protection of children and family, the establishment of a permanent national committee on children, the preparation of a comprehensive diagnostic study on children situation in Qatar, as well as the preparation of a national strategy for childhood and promotion of the establishment of civil society organisations dealing with children and women issues.

The forum also highlighted the consequences of actions taken against children in political crises, for example the issue of the unjust siege on Qatar, pointing out to the violation of international law and human rights conventions by the blockade countries, especially the rights of children and families separated because of these illegal unilateral measures.

Qatar Foundation for Social Work (QFSW) chief executive officer Amal Abdullatif al-Mannai stressed the importance of commitment to provide a better and safer future for the child as it is the noblest task agreed upon by the world leaders and peoples over the past three decades, pointing out that this task is a central challenge in front of governmental and civic organisations and private sector institutions involved in translating into a reality.

She affirmed the support of QFSW to promote the basic rights of children such as the right to identity, physical integrity, education and access to all information and services, as well as living in the family, physical and psychological rehabilitation, social reintegration, and the right to enjoy all rights without any discrimination, plus the right of the disabled and orphan child to a decent life, care,
training and work.