AMMAN —
The Cabinet on Sunday
approved the draft child rights law for the year 2022.
اضافة اعلان
The draft is part of new constitutional amendments that emphasize the
need to protect children by creating legislation that regulates the
relationship with children, and coordinates between public and private entities
concerned with children or charged with providing services to them, in
accordance with the legislation in force.
The draft law is also in line with the Kingdom’s ratification of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires taking legislative,
administrative, and other appropriate measures to implement the rights
recognized for children in this convention.
Advocacy, Campaign, and Communications director of
Save the Children Safa’ Al-Jayoussi told Jordan News that the law is an investment in childhood, and is in the interest of
the development process and the right of the child to education, health, and
social care; it “is considered a milestone for children in Jordan, as it
revolves around achieving their interests in health, education, and
development”.
If the law is implemented, “it will be a guiding compass for all parties
that work with children: ministries, parents, civil society institutions, and
the media”, she added.
Secretary-General of the
National Council for Family Affairs Muhammad
Miqdad told Jordan News that since 1991, Jordan has had to pass the Child Rights Law, especially
after signing international agreements on children’s rights.
Miqdad stressed that the law translates rights into legal articles which
are binding on the concerned party. These articles include the provision of
primary health care for all children, the right to education, stipulate the
quality and obligation of education, the role of parents toward their children,
impose penalties on parents whose children beg or drop out of schools, and
ensure protection from violence.
According to Miqdad, the law also deals with the quality of services that
should be provided to children and the rights of people with disabilities.
He said that “this law is a comprehensive constitution for childhood
issues”, and expressed hope that the
House of Representatives will approve it,
without finding it to be a controversial issue.
Buthyna Frehat, from the
National Center for Human Rights, told Jordan News that the Jordanian
Constitution emphasizes the protection of the rights of children and that
Jordan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, which makes
the convention binding on Jordan.
As such, “the government was required to review its national legislation
to issue a special law for children”, she said, emphasizing that the law “will
be a real investment in childhood”.
Frehat also said that the adoption of the draft law on the rights of the
child is a commitment to the sustainable development goals, and that the law
will help build a “generation capable of protecting this country”.
The Cabinet has been working on the law concerning children’s rights in
2015 by holding a series of workshops to discuss the law. A draft law was
drafted and sent to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau in 2019, and there were
efforts to discuss this law and present it to the Cabinet Services Committee to
make some amendments.
The
draft law will now be discussed in the Lower House.
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