Al Falasi made her statements on the occasion of council’s participation as part of the delegation that will present the country?s third report on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Human Rights to the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, which began its proceedings today and will continue until the 25th of January.

She added that the UAE?s care of children and motherhood, and the great support provided by the country?s wise leadership for these two categories of the community, are a role model for the entire world.

She pointed in this regard to the directives of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, GWU, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, FDF, noting that the UAE?s report includes the laws that the country has issued for the sake of their children, as well as those programmes executed by the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, with the aim of providing the appropriate environment for raising children in a creative manner.

Reem Abdullah Al Falasi also mentioned that the UAE pays great attention to childhood, an age span, which, she said, is considered as the essence of the inherited and rooted values in the UAE community, not only from the humanitarian perspective of care, but from the viewpoint of the rights and duties mandatory in the Islamic law and in the UAE community as well. It is this angle from which the country pays attention to children and strives to overcome all the difficulties which prevent children from receiving proper upbringing which prepares them to be good and useful individuals in the community, through providing the appropriate legislation and services, she added.

She pointed out that the UAE was committed to all international charters and agreements approved by the United Nations regarding children?s rights and strives continuously to move forward in this area, since so much of the future and civilisational development in the country relies on today’s children.

?Many laws which protect children?s rights have been put in place, and the country approved the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on January 3rd 1997.? she added. ?These agreements included the basic principles that the country was committed to in elevating the status of children and their protection.?

As a result, legislation have been created to protect children and care for their rights, health, and welfare, called the “Wadeema Law”, which crowns many other laws related to protecting children, such as the law to combat human trafficking, the children of unknown parentage law, and other laws related to childhood.

She added that the Supreme Council of Motherhood and Childhood delegation will attend the session to review the country?s 3rd report in front of the Human Rights Committee, as well as attending the discussion sessions on this topic and issues in relation to the questions and inquiries which fall within its specialisations, especially in relation to childhood.

She concluded her statements saying that the country?s report about Human Rights will be comprehensive and convincing, and it will elicit, just as the other reports presented by the country in this regard, great interest from the participating international delegations representing over 100 countries.