Minister of Social Development and Family H E Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad speaking at the conference.
Doha, Qatar: The regional conference on preventing grave violations against children in armed conflicts kicked off virtually yesterday, in coordination with the League of Arab States and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. The State of Qatar hosts the event as president of the 42nd meeting of the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs.
Bringing together Their Excellencies Arab Ministers of Social Affairs, the conference will discuss the best regional practices for preventing grave violations against children in armed conflicts and highlight ways to boost regional cooperation.
Addressing the conference, Minister of Social Development and Family H E Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad said the conference aims to discuss governments’ views and ideas that help crystalise a unified international and Arab position on the issue of preventing grave violations against children in armed conflicts.
She added that the world is facing a complex and deep crisis that threatens the future of childhood amid the rising intensity of armed conflicts, and the absence of peaceful solutions to them, prompting those in charge of humanitarian and development work to harness further efforts and accelerate their coordination to limit the exacerbating humanitarian situation in countries suffering from the scourge of armed conflict, to impose peaceful dialogue and to define guarantees for the protection of children and human rights during conflicts.
Children remain the group most affected by the absence of clear mechanisms to protect them during wars and conflicts, specifically those from poverty-stricken spots, including refugees and displaced persons, as the groups that suffer the greatest share of gross violations and exploitation, she said.
Al Misnad highlighted that the Middle East showed 79 percent of violations against children due to armed conflict, with 93,000 children having been recruited in armed conflicts and more than 25,000 children kidnapped by armed men between 2005 and 2020. The same period also documented 14,000 cases of child rape or forced marriage at the hands of the parties to the conflict, Her Excellency highlighted.
This complex situation requires doubled efforts and cooperation among all countries of the world, including the Arab countries, to protect children from being exploited, especially in armed conflicts, she said, warning that distorted childhood, poverty and ignorance make appropriate incubators for extremism, terrorism and urge to revenge.
Moreover, the Minister added that childhood in areas of armed conflict generates major future psychological and physical disabilities that exhaust societies and establish the inheritance of poverty and ignorance.
She stressed that Qatar is always ready to coordinate and cooperate with Arab countries and the world to support people suffering from armed conflicts, including the Sudanese people, and stop the deterioration of social and humanitarian conditions and end the crisis that threatens the future of childhood and the world.
In a similar statement, H E Arab League’s Assistant Secretary General and head of social affairs sector Ambassador Dr. Haifa Abu Ghazaleh said the Arab League prioritises the issue of preventing heinous violations against children in the armed conflict to achieve the best interest of children, adding that the Arab Childhood Committee periodically follows up on this issue.
She underscored the Arab League’s keenness to develop joint work mechanisms to curb the challenges facing children since they are among vulnerable segments affected by wars and economic and social crises, as well as providing full protection to them. Dr. Ghazaleh pointed out the steps taken by the Arab League in this respect in the implementation of the recommendations of the 18th meeting of the follow-up committee to stop violence against children which had issued recommendations.
Among the recommendations, she said, is to explore ways to support Palestinian children and reduce the consequences of violence being committed by the Israeli occupation forces, adding that the Palestinian children are facing major threats against their fundamental rights, in addition to grave violations, such as killing, arbitrary detention and forced displacement.
