Shoura Council Secretary-General Muhammad Al-Ghamdi said the house approved the draft on recommendations presented by the council’s social and family welfare committee.
The draft law, which includes 26 articles, outlines the rights of children and includes programs aimed at raising awareness about rights among children.
The law has been drafted according to Shariah and offers maximum protection to children against abuse and negligence, said Al-Ghamdi, adding that clauses are based on Islamic principles, the Kingdom’s current regulations and relevant international agreements that Saudi Arabia is a signatory of.
The draft includes clauses protecting children from physical and mental abuse, neglect, sexual exploitation, labor, trafficking, and being sold cigarettes and narcotics. It also emphasizes that all children should be looked after by their parents as well as their neighbors.
Saudi Arabia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1996 with a reservation exempting it from all articles that are in conflict with Islamic law; the Kingdom also considers the convention a valid source of domestic law.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of children.
The convention defines a child as any human being under the age of 18 unless an earlier age of majority is recognized by a country’s law.
Nations that ratify this convention are bound to it by international law.
Compliance is monitored by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is composed of members from countries around the world.
Once a year, the committee submits a report to the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, which also hears a statement from the chair of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Assembly then adopts a resolution on children’s rights.
Governments of countries that have ratified the convention are required to report to, and appear before, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child periodically to be examined on their progress with regard to the advancement of the implementation of the convention and the status of children’s rights in their country. Their reports and the committee’s written views and concerns are then disseminated among other members.
The house also approved a draft regulation of the Ministry of Health to encourage scientific research in the medical field within the Kingdom. The draft includes 15 articles and is aimed at health professionals to engage in scientific research and studies that could be meaningful to the Kingdom.
