GENEVA: 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.
Ambassador Al-Wasil highlights Saudi Arabia’s efforts to protect children
Ambassador Al-Wasil highlights Saudi Arabia’s efforts to protect children
Saudi defense minister calls on Southern Transitional Council to de-escalate in Yemen
- In a statement addressed “to our people in Yemen” and published on X, Prince Khalid said Saudi Arabia’s intervention came at the request of Yemen’s internationally recognized government
DUBAI: Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman called on the Southern Transitional Council (STC) to respond to Saudi-Emirati mediation efforts and de-escalate tensions in eastern Yemen, urging the group to withdraw its forces from camps in Hadramout and Al-Mahra and hand them over peacefully to local authorities.
In a statement addressed “to our people in Yemen” and published on X, Prince Khalid said Saudi Arabia’s intervention came at the request of Yemen’s internationally recognized government and aimed to restore state authority across the country through the Decisive Storm and Restoring Hope operations.
He said the Kingdom has consistently treated the southern issue as a “just political cause” that must be resolved through dialogue and consensus, citing the Riyadh Conference and Riyadh Agreement as frameworks that ensured southern participation in governance and rejected the use of force.
The minister warned that recent events in Hadramout and Al-Mahra since early December had caused divisions that undermine the fight against Yemen’s common enemy and harm the southern cause. He praised southern leaders and groups who, he said, have acted responsibly to support de-escalation and preserve social stability.
Prince Khalid reaffirmed that the southern issue would remain part of any comprehensive political settlement in Yemen and stressed that it must be resolved through trust-building and national consensus, not actions that could fuel further conflict.
