RIYADH: A senior UN official is to visit Saudi Arabia to study the government’s efforts to alleviate poverty and how they relate to human rights obligations.
Philip Alston, special rapporteur on poverty and human rights, is set to visit the Kingdom in the second week of January.
A UN official here said a key aspect of the visit by the expert will be to look at how poverty is defined and measured in the Kingdom.
Though Saudi Arabia is a rich country in many respects, challenges relating to poverty do exist, as is the case in many other states.
Alston will look into the ways in which the Kingdom’s social protection system works to protect poor or less privileged people, the UN official said.
The Vision 2030 reform plan, among other Saudi initiatives, partly focus on ways to improve the livelihoods of the Saudi people, recognizing each family’s aspiration to own a home and the important role ownership plays in strengthening family security.
The visiting expert will share his preliminary observations and recommendations at a press conference to be held at the end of his visit on Jan. 19 at the United Nations building auditorium in the Diplomatic Quarter.
Alston, who will visit the Kingdom from Jan. 8 to 19 at the invitation of the government, will meet officials at various levels, nongovernmental organizations, academics, representatives of international organizations and the diplomatic community, said a United Nations Human Rights Council statement.
Notably, Saudi Arabia was re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council in October.
Reacting to this, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, the Kingdom’s permanent representative to the UN, has said: “Saudi Arabia’s re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) reflects the international community’s trust in the pioneering and leading role played by the Kingdom in the UN body.”
Philip Alston, special rapporteur on poverty and human rights, is set to visit the Kingdom in the second week of January.
A UN official here said a key aspect of the visit by the expert will be to look at how poverty is defined and measured in the Kingdom.
Though Saudi Arabia is a rich country in many respects, challenges relating to poverty do exist, as is the case in many other states.
Alston will look into the ways in which the Kingdom’s social protection system works to protect poor or less privileged people, the UN official said.
The Vision 2030 reform plan, among other Saudi initiatives, partly focus on ways to improve the livelihoods of the Saudi people, recognizing each family’s aspiration to own a home and the important role ownership plays in strengthening family security.
The visiting expert will share his preliminary observations and recommendations at a press conference to be held at the end of his visit on Jan. 19 at the United Nations building auditorium in the Diplomatic Quarter.
Alston, who will visit the Kingdom from Jan. 8 to 19 at the invitation of the government, will meet officials at various levels, nongovernmental organizations, academics, representatives of international organizations and the diplomatic community, said a United Nations Human Rights Council statement.
Notably, Saudi Arabia was re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council in October.
Reacting to this, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, the Kingdom’s permanent representative to the UN, has said: “Saudi Arabia’s re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) reflects the international community’s trust in the pioneering and leading role played by the Kingdom in the UN body.”
