Arab regional civil society forum on childhood convenes in Rabat
The Arab Regional Civil Society Forum on Childhood is convening in Rabat this February 15-19 to examine a set of issues related to childhood in the Arab world. The problem of homeless children, some 10 million in the Arab world, will top the agenda of the five-day encounter.
Participants, including spouses of some Arab heads of state, chiefs of international and regional organizations and experts and specialists in children issues, will also look into children rights, the role of non-governmental organizations in addressing the issue and means to ensure better living conditions, education and health to Arab children.
The forum that will examine the situation of Palestinian exiled children and Israel's treatment of Palestinian children will ponder on adequate mechanisms to promote in the region (Arab world " Iran) the World Declaration on Survival, Protection and Development of Children adopted in 1990. It will also look into a final declaration on children's rights.
The forum also features workshops on the setting up of Arab banks for the poor, similar to the two banks already instituted in Yemen and Jordan.
Initiator of the Arab banks for the poor project, Prince Talal Ibn Abdelaziz, who chairs the Arab Childhood and Development council and the Arab Network of National Organizations, told reporters upon arrival here Wednesday he would discuss with Moroccan officials the possibility to set up such a bank in Morocco.
Several personalities and delegations already arrived in Morocco to take part in the forum, sponsored by the Arab childhood and Development Council and the Moroccan observatory of children rights. These include besides Prince Talal, the spouses of the Senegalese and the Palestinian presidents, Viviane Wade and Souha Arafat, the spouse of Lebanese Premier and chairwoman of the national committee at the Lebanese Parliament, Bahia Hariri, and the Arab league secretary general Esmat Abdelmeguid.
The forum is part of preparations for the special session of the General Assembly on children slated for September 19-21, 2001 at the United Nations in New York City.