UAE government, people will take care of Martyrs' kids: Minister

The UAE law on the Rights of the Child is in the final stages and is expected to see the light of day soon, Mariam bint Mohammed Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of Social Affairs, has revealed. In a statement ahead of Universal Children's Day, which the world celebrates on 20th November every year, Al Roumi said the bill provides protection to children against negligence, exploitation, mistreatment, and physical and psychological violence. ''It also provides for requirements for the security and safety of children from any harm and prohibits download, upload, transmission of any pornographic material via the Internet or any other ICT channels,'' she added. According to the minister, the law requests telecom and internet service providers to notify the authorities concerned about such obscene material that may be circulated through their networks and provide information and data about persons, entities or sites that deliberately circulate them to lure and abuse children. ''The UAE is striving to build a modern state where children enjoy all the benefits of modern life from welfare, education to entertainment. It also works to instil authentic values in children and raise their awareness to determine right from wrong,'' she said. ''If the child is well immunised by education, values and knowledge through his family, school and community, he will be able to protect himself from all risks in this open world of advanced technology,'' the minister said. ''This year, the UAE is joining the international community in observing Universal Children's Day which comes just before the first Martyr's Day in the UAE on 30th November in which Emirati martyrs will be recognised and remembered for offering the ultimate sacrifice in defence of the homeland. The leadership and people of the UAE have taken upon themselves to look after the children of martyrs, providing them with all that they need in terms of education, healthcare, love and parental and emotional safety and support to grow up and accomplish what their fathers started in the development and defence of the nation,'' the minister said. ''The state will ensure that those children enjoy a dignified, secure, and prosperous life, and a high sense of safety and stability,'' she concluded. The date, 20th November, marks the day on which the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989. The Convention, which is the most widely ratified international human rights treaty, sets out a number of rights for children including the right to life, health, education and recreation, as well as the right to family life, to be protected from violence, to not be discriminated against, and to have their views heard.