New York / Information Office / October 12
The State of Qatar affirmed Friday its commitment to protecting the rights of children at the national, regional and international levels. The country would also spare no effort in providing the necessary support to the protection of children in all circumstances and by all means, in order to help ensure their development and education take place in safe and healthy conditions.
This came in the statement read by the State of Qatar in one of the meetings on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly on enhancing and protecting the right of children. The statement was read by member of the Qatari delegation participating in the 73rd UN General Assembly Mariam Ali Al Mawlawi.
She added that The State of Qatar signed an agreement with the Office of the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict on September 28 of 2018 to open a center for children and armed conflict in Doha, which will contribute significantly to strengthening knowledge and skills for the protection of children affected by armed conflict in the region. She noted that the move reflected the commitment of the State of Qatar of Qatar to protecting the rights of children, particularly in times of armed conflicts.
She also stressed that the State of Qatar has made great strides in promoting and protecting the rights of children by taking a number of legislative and executive measures in various fields and sectors, such as education, health, social protection and family policies. These measures were implemented within the framework of Qatar National Vision 2030 and the other national development strategies, and in line with international conventions on the subject.
The Qatari official also highlighted the country's effort in preventing violence against children, noting that the State has developed a system for early detection of child abuse and neglect through increasing the number of social workers in schools, developing their knowledge and skills on the subject, developing an awareness program for students about violence and protection, establishing a hotline for schools to report cases of violence. There are also other programmes, such as the one run by Hamad Medical Corporation to detect and report suspected cases of violence, provide care for abused children and promote a safe environment for children at home. The Social Rehabilitation & Protection Center (AMAN), a civil society organization, carries out awareness-raising activities in schools to develop the skills of teachers and social workers for early detection and response to peer abuse.
Al Mawlawi stressed that the issue of protecting the right to education is of great importance in the implementation of Qatar's policy in the field of international cooperation and its development and relief programs, based on Qatar's belief that education is the key to development and the importance of investing in the upbringing, protection and education of children, and based on its conviction that the right to education does not fall due to emergency circumstances.
Al Mawlawi added that the State has been able to realize many achievements in this field in cooperation with its partners in the international community, where Education Above All foundation in partnership with UNICEF and more than 80 global partners has managed to provide quality education for 10 million children without school in more than 50 countries around the world, including areas plagued by armed conflict, poverty and natural disasters. The State of Qatar has also recently provided 70 million USD to UNICEF to support Yemen's water and sanitation sector to reduce the spread of diseases related to contaminated water, such as cholera and others, which will save the lives of thousands of children in Yemen.
Mariam Al Mawlawi pointed out that the reports before us today contain many important conclusions and recommendations, including the significant progress made in the prevention and response to violence against children, to which the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children has referred to in her annual report, which calls for optimism and deserves praise, stressing that this progress underscores the importance of continuing the efforts of the international community in this field in order to achieve the second point of the sixteenth goal of sustainable development, to end all forms of violence against children.