RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will mobilize its efforts to protect the rights of women and children in the Kingdom as well as in the Arab world, said Princess Adela bint Abdullah, vice president of the National Family Safety Program (NFSP).
“This is an important issue to address as most countries in the Arab world are affected,” said Princess Adela yesterday.
The princess was speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Third Arab ISPCAN Regional Conference on Child Protection, which is under way in Riyadh.
The conference is sponsored by the NFSP in collaboration with the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN).
Princess Adela said the NFSP would solicit the cooperation of lawyers, judicial bodies, police, government and nongovernmental organizations to safeguard the rights of women and children. “We want to put all concerned bodies on board to carry out this program successfully,” she said.
“We would also train young Saudi women to become specialists in counseling families against child abuse. Successful trainees would be in a position to attend to the social, medical and psychological needs of children and their families,” she said, pointing out that the NFSP would also organize awareness programs for parents and schoolchildren.
She said a hotline would be set up for people to lodge complaints about abuse and violence against women and children. “Even victims would be able to complain directly through this telephone number,” she said.
Princess Adela said the Kingdom’s experience in successfully implementing the program would be shared with other Arab states. She said the media in the Kingdom has to play a prominent role in disseminating information about this program. “Without the media support, we cannot carry out this program effectively.”
