Abdulaziz Al-Wasil

Saudi Arabia has presented before the UN Human Rights Council its efforts in protecting and enhancing children’s rights.

In his speech before the council, Abdulaziz Al-Wasil, Saudi ambassador to the UN in Geneva, highlighted Saudi efforts in protecting children’s rights during armed conflicts based on constitutional principles based on Shariah law, national legislation and international conventions and protocols endorsed by the Kingdom, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

He said that the Kingdom’s regulations have criminalized violence against children in all its forms, and have taken many measures to eradicate it, including issuance of the System of Protection from Abuse in September 2013 as well as the Child Protection System in November 2014.

Al-Wasil added that a center was established in Saudi Arabia to receive information of violence against children in 2013, with women employees of the Family Safety Program working in shifts 24 hours a day to monitor child safety and receive reports of abuse.