Abu Dhabi: A law to protect children initially called Wudeema’s Law — in memory of the eight-year-old girl who was starved and tortured to death by her father and his girlfriend — will now be known as the Law on Child Rights, after Federal National Council members voted by a massive majority to change the name.
FNC members on Wednesday started reviewing the landmark legislation, passed by the Cabinet, to protect children from abuse and neglect.
The members of the House said the law should not be named after the girl, given the tragic ordeal she faced and the possible defamation it might cause to her or her family.
When the little girl’s ordeal came to light last year, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, ordered policymakers to speed up work to complete the legislation, which was then at the draft stage.
The draft law provides for children’s right to security, to freedom from inhuman, cruel, or degrading treatment and the right to special protection during childhood. It also states a child’s right to life, the right to a name, the right to express their views freely, the right to health care, the right to protection from economic and sexual exploitation, and the right to education.
The bill says every child, regardless of origin, nationality, religion or social status, has the right to a secure life, permanent care and emotional and psychological stability.
In a marathon six-hour debate, members of the House endorsed only a dozen articles of the 77 articles, which says that all children, without distinction, have the right to permanent care and protection against any risks or abuses. The best interests of children and their needs must take precedence over anything, according to the bill.
Salem Bin Rakad Al Ameri, head of the Federal National Council’s committee for health, labour and social affairs, said the draft law primarily seeks to regulate and guarantee children’s rights in various fields to secure a stable life and better future.
Mariam Al Roumi, Minister of Social Affairs, told the council, the law provides for seven basic rights including the right of empowerment and the right to protection in keeping with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the UAE became a signatory in 1996.
The new draft law covers all aspects related to children’s rights and contains instruments that ensure its implementation, as well as punishments that will punish people whose morals and religious beliefs do not stop them from violating the rights of children. The government also underlined its commitment to meet those basic needs and rights in the best ways.
Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, a member from Abu Dhabi, asked that the draft law protect the best interests of children, and the request was endorsed by the FNC.
The best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration and the child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name and the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents, according to the law.
Under the legislation, children have the right to protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation and discrimination. It also provides, among other rights, for economic, social and cultural rights, related to the conditions necessary to meet basic human needs such as food, shelter, education and health care.
Children also have the right to grow up and to develop physically and spiritually in a healthy and normal way, free and with dignity.
The UAE recently become the first Middle Eastern country to sign up to recommendations to combat the spread of online material depicting child sexual abuse, made by the Virtual Global Taskforce in its meeting last month in New Zealand.
Under the law, children have the right to be protected against cruel acts or exploitation and they shall not be obliged to do work which hinders their development both physically and mentally. They also have the right to be among the first to get help.
