Holding the Roundtable Meeting for the Project of the National Observatory for Children’s Rights in Sana’a
The National Observatory for Children’s Rights held a roundtable meeting in Sana’a today, organized by the Yemeni NGOs Coalition for the Child Rights Care (YNGOC) in cooperation with Save Children International (SCI), the Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR), and the Higher Council for Motherhood and Childhood (HCMC).
The roundtable meeting, with the participation of representatives of a number of local and international bodies, aimed to support and advocate for the National Observatory for Children’s Rights and mobilize resources and active participation of international organizations to support and fund the Observatory.
During the roundtable meeting, the project of the National Observatory for Children’s Rights was reviewed in terms of stages, mechanisms, documents and literature that have been prepared and the nature of work and independence of the Observatory and functions of the Founding Board of the Observatory, its management, and scheduled plan.
Mr. Ali Saleh Tayseer, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Rights, has emphasized the importance of establishing this observatory because children are the most vulnerable category to violations, pointing out that the ministry is seeking to build a qualitative partnership with various parties in order to work to protect the rights of the child.
He pointed to the Ministry’s interest in the existence of the National Observatory for Children’s Rights as an independent institutional entity at a time when the rights of the child need comprehensive care, especially in the circumstances the country is experiencing due to the aggression and blockade, which negatively affected the situation in general and children in particular.
He said that the ministry is ready to cooperate to bring the National Observatory for Children’s Rights to light and to carry out its tasks in monitoring and documenting violations against children because of the direct targeting by the Saudi-led aggression. He praised the efforts of entities and organizations that contributed to the preparation for establishing the Observatory.
The Secretary-General of the Higher Council for Motherhood and Childhood, Lamia Al-Iryani reviewed the official and non-official efforts that sought the existence of the Observatory. She expressed her hope that the meeting would lead to effective executive steps to establish the observatory.
She stressed the importance of the Observatory in documenting and monitoring violations against children and building the capacity of cadres working in this regard, as well as spreading community awareness about children’s rights issues.
On his part, the General Coordinator of the Yemeni NGOs Coalition for Child Rights Care (YNGOC), Mr. Abdo Salah Al Harazi, discussed the efforts of the YNGOC and what has been achieved during the previous phase in the field of child rights and establishment of the observatory.
He pointed out that the roundtable meeting aims to mobilize efforts and resources to support the establishment of the Observatory, especially from international organizations, and the importance of activating the mechanisms of its establishment and the distribution of roles among NGOs working in child care during the next phase.
He indicated that the work nature of the observatory will be reviewed and discussed as a community-based participatory institution working according to a vision and goals to achieve the best interests of the child in life under the slogan “Together for a safe childhood”.
He praised the efforts of all local and international partners interested in the existence of the observatory, particularly Save the Children.
The Director of the Child Protection and Governance Program in the Office of Save the Children International in Yemen pointed to the importance of the Observatory as an urgent need, particularly in the difficult circumstances in which child victims are increasing, stressing the need for continued support for the National Observatory for Children’s Rights.
The participants were divided into working groups to discuss the submitted papers to contribute to enriching them to come up with a common vision that serves the objectives of the Observatory and activate the mechanisms to create it.
The participants in the roundtable meeting stressed the need to speed up the establishment of the Observatory to serve and win victory for the issues of children in Yemen, considering any delay in the establishment of the Observatory means more violations against children committed by the aggression against the Yemeni people in all its categories, including children.