(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
The two-day 'International Conference on Human Rights Approach to Conflict Situations in the Arab Region concluded yesterday with a call for empowering the most vulnerable groups to demand their rights and encouraging them for active participation in public life.
Member governments were asked to support efforts being made to prevent violations of human rights and regional organisations to establish early warning centres. All actors should support activities and strategies aiming to disseminate the culture of human rights, review curriculum and education systems in order to enhance human rights culture, mutual respect, and tolerance, a recommendation suggested.
The second-day sessions of the conference, which hosted representatives of 18 Arab countries and around 320 representatives of governments and organisations, witnessed discussions on a variety of topics related to human rights in conflict-hit areas in four working groups. The groups highlighted education and protection of children, protection of women, children and minorities in conflict situation in three papers.
Working group two highlighted 'Education under attack: How to protect the right to education in armed conflictsquot;. While the third workshop addressed issues related to human rights approach to transitional justice, and the last group focused on humanitarian aid in conflict affected areas in the Arab region bringing to the floor examples of successes and lessons, perspectives and challenges facing aids in internally displaced peoples in Syria and Yemen.
The final session included speeches and announcement of the final recommendations of the conference which called all parties involved in armed conflicts to respect the international humanitarian law, human rights law and humanitarian principles.
All member counties were asked to use their maximum influence to make the parties in conflict areas to respect human rights and respond to the humanitarian needs of victims.
International community, human rights and civil society and national human rights organisations have also been urged to bear their responsibilities to protect and end violence and violations to the rights of vulnerable segments of societies including children and women, elders, people with special needs and minority groups. As well to provide with necessary financial, medical support and consolation to the victims of violations.
As one of the challenges the participants focused on during the last-day-sessions was the targeting of humanitarian organisation, sharing a statistic that 40% of aid workers were subjected to violence.
They called for documenting those attacks and for holding accountable the perpetrators as a deterrent to potential violators. In regard to this point the recommendations prompted actors to ease access to reliefs without hindering relief trucks or targeting aid and medical employees working on the ground.
Participants also called, during the discussions, for respecting international humanitarian law, which they said would help alleviate the suffering and limit the killing and displacement of people. It would also allow for the providing of humanitarian aid.
Member countries and concerned national and international human rights organisations were also urged to support and protect the right of education for deprived segments of the societies and work to achieve the goals of sustainable developments, protect schools and educational institutions and ratify and implement the declaration of secured schools. The working group on education discussed topic entitled quot;Education Under Attack: How to Protect the Right to Education in Armed Conflictquot; and participants highlighted four broad topics which are accountability for education-related violations in international law. The second topic was avoiding the use of school in military purposes. The third was engaging with non-state armed groups to encourage them to abide by the international law related to education, while the fourth was the role of civil society in promoting the right to education in areas of conflict.
Regarding transitional justices, the conference urged all actors to support inclusion of accountability and protection of human rights in any peace agreements and protect the rights of the victims.
The total number of refugees worldwide is now 65 million, 1% of the world's population. Some 39% of those refugees are in the Middle East.
MENAFN2602201700630000ID1095270706
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.