WAM Abu Dhabi, 18th May 2009 (WAM) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has taken the premises of the UAE General Women's Union (GWU) as venue of its child protection programme.
The move falls under the cooperation agreement signed between the GWU and UNICEF.
Meanwhile, Noura Al Suweidi, GWU Director, received today Dr Ayman Abu Laban, UNICEF representative to the Gulf region, and Lara Hussein the UNICEF's Child Protection Officer in the UAE.
Al Suweidi said the GWU was ready to offer all possible assistance to enable the programme carry out strategy towards welfare of children being executed by the GWU with local stakeholders with assistance of the UNICEF.
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Monday, May 18, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Tunisia: Tunisian First Lady says presidency of regional Organization will promote status of Arab women
Tunisia Online News
Tunis, May 7, 2009- In an interview to the Tunisian monthly opinion magazine “Roua”, Tunisia’s First Lady, Mrs Leila Ben Ali said that Tunisia’s presidency of the Arab Women Organization (AWO) for the next two years “will follow up on the implementation of the Organization’s mechanisms and programs so as to give Arab women larger opportunities and wider prospects for participation.”
Mrs Ben Ali, who will act as the Chairperson of the Organization for the next two years, as part of the Organization’s rotational leadership, vowed to promote the status of Arab women while “enhancing their role in building advanced Arab societies.”
Asked about the privileged status Tunisian women enjoy, Mrs Ben Ali said that “the achievements and gains accomplished by Tunisian women are a source of pride for all Tunisians”.
In Tunisia she added, “we longer speak of women’s liberation but of fully fledged partnership.” Tunisian women represent 30% of the working population and can be found in all professions she said, stressing the fact that women represent 33% of judges, 31% of lawyers, one third of university teachers, a quarter of the country’s journalists, two thirds of pharmacists. Moreover 99% of six year old girls attend school and over 59% are university students.
She also highlighted the fact that Tunisian women are also active in political life as they represent 23% of the Chamber of deputies, 19% of the Chamber of Advisors, 27, 6% in municipal councils, including the presence of 5 women as mayors. 20% of diplomatic positions are also held by women added Mrs Ben Ali, who pointed out that more than 10,000 businesswomen are running their own projects.
Stressing the role of civil society in further empowering women Mrs Ben Ali said that nearly 30 associations concerned with women’s affairs are active in Tunisia.
“The New Era has offered women the conditions propitious for a larger participation in all fields of development. Having accomplished significant gains, unprecedented in our cultural and geographic environment, Tunisian women are now a fundamental element in the building and growth of society”, she said.
The interview also focused on Mrs Ben Ali’s responsibilities in the social and humanitarian sectors, especially in her capacity as the president of the BASMA association for the promotion of employment among disabled people.
The Tunisian First Lady also told “Roua” that the media are called upon to adopt amore constructive role in reflecting the genuine role of women in life. She slammed a certain Arab press and television for giving “stereotyped images of women” which discard women’s political, economic, cultural and scientific roles. She said she was fully convinced that “the most pressing task is to continue to change mentalities and mindsets, as a prelude to changing the image of women in society”, in addition to the “responsibility incumbent upon Arab women themselves to change their own image”, she added.
To a question on the scourge of violence against women that plagues many Arab societies, the Tunisian First Lady stressed the importance “to enact tough and binding laws” to discourage such practises. She also insisted on the importance of the role of educational institutions in setting up programs “free from any ideology that belittles women and their status.”
Mrs Ben Ali noted that the education of children is a noble mission which should be carried out to the best of ones’ abilities, given the fact that the future of children is the future of humanity as a whole. Pointing out to the plight of Palestinian children, Mrs Ben Ali said that as a Chairperson of the Arab Women Organisation, she will set up new approaches and programs to promote the rights of Palestinian children.
Tunis, May 7, 2009- In an interview to the Tunisian monthly opinion magazine “Roua”, Tunisia’s First Lady, Mrs Leila Ben Ali said that Tunisia’s presidency of the Arab Women Organization (AWO) for the next two years “will follow up on the implementation of the Organization’s mechanisms and programs so as to give Arab women larger opportunities and wider prospects for participation.”
Mrs Ben Ali, who will act as the Chairperson of the Organization for the next two years, as part of the Organization’s rotational leadership, vowed to promote the status of Arab women while “enhancing their role in building advanced Arab societies.”
Asked about the privileged status Tunisian women enjoy, Mrs Ben Ali said that “the achievements and gains accomplished by Tunisian women are a source of pride for all Tunisians”.
In Tunisia she added, “we longer speak of women’s liberation but of fully fledged partnership.” Tunisian women represent 30% of the working population and can be found in all professions she said, stressing the fact that women represent 33% of judges, 31% of lawyers, one third of university teachers, a quarter of the country’s journalists, two thirds of pharmacists. Moreover 99% of six year old girls attend school and over 59% are university students.
She also highlighted the fact that Tunisian women are also active in political life as they represent 23% of the Chamber of deputies, 19% of the Chamber of Advisors, 27, 6% in municipal councils, including the presence of 5 women as mayors. 20% of diplomatic positions are also held by women added Mrs Ben Ali, who pointed out that more than 10,000 businesswomen are running their own projects.
Stressing the role of civil society in further empowering women Mrs Ben Ali said that nearly 30 associations concerned with women’s affairs are active in Tunisia.
“The New Era has offered women the conditions propitious for a larger participation in all fields of development. Having accomplished significant gains, unprecedented in our cultural and geographic environment, Tunisian women are now a fundamental element in the building and growth of society”, she said.
The interview also focused on Mrs Ben Ali’s responsibilities in the social and humanitarian sectors, especially in her capacity as the president of the BASMA association for the promotion of employment among disabled people.
The Tunisian First Lady also told “Roua” that the media are called upon to adopt amore constructive role in reflecting the genuine role of women in life. She slammed a certain Arab press and television for giving “stereotyped images of women” which discard women’s political, economic, cultural and scientific roles. She said she was fully convinced that “the most pressing task is to continue to change mentalities and mindsets, as a prelude to changing the image of women in society”, in addition to the “responsibility incumbent upon Arab women themselves to change their own image”, she added.
To a question on the scourge of violence against women that plagues many Arab societies, the Tunisian First Lady stressed the importance “to enact tough and binding laws” to discourage such practises. She also insisted on the importance of the role of educational institutions in setting up programs “free from any ideology that belittles women and their status.”
Mrs Ben Ali noted that the education of children is a noble mission which should be carried out to the best of ones’ abilities, given the fact that the future of children is the future of humanity as a whole. Pointing out to the plight of Palestinian children, Mrs Ben Ali said that as a Chairperson of the Arab Women Organisation, she will set up new approaches and programs to promote the rights of Palestinian children.
Mauritania: Religious Leaders call for Ending Corporal Punishment in Mauritania
UNICEF
By Christian Skoog and Brahim Ould Isselmou
ATAR, Mauritania, 6 May 2009 – In the first hour after his arrival at a mahadra (Koranic school) in Atar, Ahmed was beaten several times. Over the next four months, he suffered daily.
His ‘Cheikh’, or teacher, used many different tools to punish Ahmed and his friends. Some of the boys who are considered troublemakers were tied up to the trunks of trees and left outside for hours, suffering from the heat and hunger.
“I pray to Allah that I no longer have to wear my torn shirt to cover the scars on my back,” said Ahmed.
Turning to the Imams’ Network
In this country, as in many others, corporal punishment is widespread in mahadras and secular primary schools, and within families. It is considered a suitable and effective educational method.
UNICEF Mauritania analyzed this widespread phenomenon in order to find the best way to address it. Given the pre-eminent position of religious leaders in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a partnership with the Imams’ and Religious Leaders’ Network for Child Rights was deemed an appropriate entry point.
This approach is also in line with the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children, which urges close collaboration with community and religious leaders.
No basis in the Koran
For its part, the Imams’ Network carried out a study to assess whether corporal punishment is allowed in Islam. The evidence was overwhelming: The study found that violence has no place in the Koran.
UNICEF Representative in Mauritania Christian Skoog, local authorities and the President of the Imams’ and Religious Leaders’ Network for Child Rights, Hademine Ould Saleck, attend a workshop on ending corporal punishment.
The results of the study will now form the basis of a fatwa (religious edict) barring physical and verbal violence against children in the educational system, including in the home.
“The evidence that corporal punishment is forbidden by Islam is clear and abiding for all of us,” declared Imams’ Network President Hademine Ould Saleck. “Let us stop arguing. We don’t have a choice, and we must apply Sharia [Islamic law], which fully protects children”.
‘A powerful tool’
A regional workshop to validate the study was held 20-21 April in Atar. Among the participants were 30 Imams from the Adrar and Inchiri regions, as well as UNICEF Representative in Mauritania Christian Skoog.
“We have to use this fatwa prohibiting corporal punishment as a powerful tool to disseminate and put an end to violence in mahadras, schools and religious events,” said Mr. Skoog.
This child-rights initiative coincides with the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the scaling up of the country programme in Mauritania. In fact, the regional workshop kicked off a series of commemorative events.
By Christian Skoog and Brahim Ould Isselmou
ATAR, Mauritania, 6 May 2009 – In the first hour after his arrival at a mahadra (Koranic school) in Atar, Ahmed was beaten several times. Over the next four months, he suffered daily.
His ‘Cheikh’, or teacher, used many different tools to punish Ahmed and his friends. Some of the boys who are considered troublemakers were tied up to the trunks of trees and left outside for hours, suffering from the heat and hunger.
“I pray to Allah that I no longer have to wear my torn shirt to cover the scars on my back,” said Ahmed.
Turning to the Imams’ Network
In this country, as in many others, corporal punishment is widespread in mahadras and secular primary schools, and within families. It is considered a suitable and effective educational method.
UNICEF Mauritania analyzed this widespread phenomenon in order to find the best way to address it. Given the pre-eminent position of religious leaders in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a partnership with the Imams’ and Religious Leaders’ Network for Child Rights was deemed an appropriate entry point.
This approach is also in line with the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children, which urges close collaboration with community and religious leaders.
No basis in the Koran
For its part, the Imams’ Network carried out a study to assess whether corporal punishment is allowed in Islam. The evidence was overwhelming: The study found that violence has no place in the Koran.
UNICEF Representative in Mauritania Christian Skoog, local authorities and the President of the Imams’ and Religious Leaders’ Network for Child Rights, Hademine Ould Saleck, attend a workshop on ending corporal punishment.
The results of the study will now form the basis of a fatwa (religious edict) barring physical and verbal violence against children in the educational system, including in the home.
“The evidence that corporal punishment is forbidden by Islam is clear and abiding for all of us,” declared Imams’ Network President Hademine Ould Saleck. “Let us stop arguing. We don’t have a choice, and we must apply Sharia [Islamic law], which fully protects children”.
‘A powerful tool’
A regional workshop to validate the study was held 20-21 April in Atar. Among the participants were 30 Imams from the Adrar and Inchiri regions, as well as UNICEF Representative in Mauritania Christian Skoog.
“We have to use this fatwa prohibiting corporal punishment as a powerful tool to disseminate and put an end to violence in mahadras, schools and religious events,” said Mr. Skoog.
This child-rights initiative coincides with the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the scaling up of the country programme in Mauritania. In fact, the regional workshop kicked off a series of commemorative events.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Morocco: Child Marriage in Morocco Criticized
Magharebia
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 05/05/09
[Getty Images] Extreme poverty leads families to marry off their underage daughters, experts in Morocco say.
Moroccan associations and human rights organisations want the practice of child marriage to stop. Campaigners from various associations recently criticised the way the Moudawana (Family Code), which was intended to limit child marriages, has been applied.
The legal minimum age for marriage in Morocco is 18 years, although family judges are empowered to allow exceptions. This loophole has enabled thousands of families to marry off their daughters prematurely.
According to figures from the justice ministry, over 31,000 under-age girls were married in 2008, compared with 29,847 in 2007.
Fouzia Assouli, chair of the Democratic League of Women's Rights, stressed that reform of the family code must take place now to restrict and clearly define the judges' powers regarding child marriage.
"Five years after the new family code was passed, Moroccans have certainly grasped the great importance of women's rights, but we're still lagging behind society's expectations," she said.
Samira Boufaracha, who belongs to the association Together for Women's Development, stated that the basis upon which exemptions are granted by judges is often unclear. "Almost every request is granted, which just encourages families to continue this practice, even though when the Moudawana first came in, we thought things would change."
The Moroccan Women's Democratic Association's legal chair Saïda Amrani Idrissi said that the law gives judges tremendous room for manoeuvre.
The justice minister says that judges are not automatically granting permission for child marriages, citing the 7% of requests that are rejected.
"The fact that some requests are rejected proves that approval is not a foregone conclusion. Requests are granted according to the particular social situation of the girls concerned," stated Justice Minister Abdelwahed Radi.
Jamal Badaoui, a sociologist, explained to Magharebia that it is proving difficult to change Moroccan attitudes overnight, particularly in rural areas. "Mindsets are much harder to change than laws. Parents living in the midst of poverty and illiteracy continue to believe that girls must be married off as soon as possible. They can't imagine a future outside marriage."
He added that things would not change unless there are targeted public awareness campaigns to explain the harm caused by early marriage and to stress the importance of learning in girls' lives, both in urban and country areas. "An improvement in families' economic circumstances will also help to limit the phenomenon. In fact, there is a series of causes on which the authorities and civil society must take action to change the situation."
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 05/05/09
[Getty Images] Extreme poverty leads families to marry off their underage daughters, experts in Morocco say.
Moroccan associations and human rights organisations want the practice of child marriage to stop. Campaigners from various associations recently criticised the way the Moudawana (Family Code), which was intended to limit child marriages, has been applied.
The legal minimum age for marriage in Morocco is 18 years, although family judges are empowered to allow exceptions. This loophole has enabled thousands of families to marry off their daughters prematurely.
According to figures from the justice ministry, over 31,000 under-age girls were married in 2008, compared with 29,847 in 2007.
Fouzia Assouli, chair of the Democratic League of Women's Rights, stressed that reform of the family code must take place now to restrict and clearly define the judges' powers regarding child marriage.
"Five years after the new family code was passed, Moroccans have certainly grasped the great importance of women's rights, but we're still lagging behind society's expectations," she said.
Samira Boufaracha, who belongs to the association Together for Women's Development, stated that the basis upon which exemptions are granted by judges is often unclear. "Almost every request is granted, which just encourages families to continue this practice, even though when the Moudawana first came in, we thought things would change."
The Moroccan Women's Democratic Association's legal chair Saïda Amrani Idrissi said that the law gives judges tremendous room for manoeuvre.
The justice minister says that judges are not automatically granting permission for child marriages, citing the 7% of requests that are rejected.
"The fact that some requests are rejected proves that approval is not a foregone conclusion. Requests are granted according to the particular social situation of the girls concerned," stated Justice Minister Abdelwahed Radi.
Jamal Badaoui, a sociologist, explained to Magharebia that it is proving difficult to change Moroccan attitudes overnight, particularly in rural areas. "Mindsets are much harder to change than laws. Parents living in the midst of poverty and illiteracy continue to believe that girls must be married off as soon as possible. They can't imagine a future outside marriage."
He added that things would not change unless there are targeted public awareness campaigns to explain the harm caused by early marriage and to stress the importance of learning in girls' lives, both in urban and country areas. "An improvement in families' economic circumstances will also help to limit the phenomenon. In fact, there is a series of causes on which the authorities and civil society must take action to change the situation."
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Bahrain: Five laws passed without changes
Gulf Daily News
MPs yesterday approved five laws passed to them by the Shura Council without discussion or amendments.
Both chambers are in dispute over several articles in the five laws but MPs decided yesterday that they could pass them without any delay because there were no major differences.
The laws will be now ratified by His Majesty King Hamad.
Among them is granting equal rights to the children of Bahraini women married to expatriates as those with Bahraini fathers.
The Shura Council decided to include a new article last month in the law.
It stipulates that children of Bahraini women have to be permanent residents in order to benefit from equal rights.
The bill allows expatriate wives the same treatment as their Bahraini counterparts in services such as government fees, education, health and an exemption from residency visa requirements.
Parliament also agreed with the Shura Council to reject an amendment among several others to the Trade Unions Law that would have allowed more than one union in the same establishment on the basis that it would create tension and division between employees.
MPs also agreed with councillors on setting up a new medical licences and services authority, after a vote to reject the Shura Council amendments was halted by parliament chairman Khalifa Al Dhahrani early this month, asking MPs to study it further.
They also approved an amended bill by the council granting GCC nationals equal rights as Bahraini businessmen when setting up businesses in Bahrain.
Parliament was also on its way to insist on its decision in regard to three other laws amended by the council but decided to postpone discussions until tomorrow's extraordinary session, which was later cancelled as MPs voted for a day off.
Parliament had earlier approved a bill to pay pensions of the deceased in the government, private and military sectors to distant relatives if they had no close family members.
However, the council rejected the bill, saying that pensions were not inheritance and could not be dealt with in the manner MPs wanted.
Services committee chairman Dr Ali Ahmed said parliament was hoping to approve all of Shura's decisions but found it difficult to approve the remaining three bills.
"I have been very lenient with councillors despite some disagreements on their approach to articles in the medical licences and services authority," he said.
"My committee liked the addition of children of Bahraini women and the ban on the formation of several unions in one establishment and according to that I recommended their approval. "But I have a huge dispute with councillors over the pension laws and parliament would have insisted on its previous decision if MPs did not decide to postpone discussing it. "Thankfully the major laws have been approved and are now in the hands of His Majesty King Hamad to ratify."
MPs yesterday approved five laws passed to them by the Shura Council without discussion or amendments.
Both chambers are in dispute over several articles in the five laws but MPs decided yesterday that they could pass them without any delay because there were no major differences.
The laws will be now ratified by His Majesty King Hamad.
Among them is granting equal rights to the children of Bahraini women married to expatriates as those with Bahraini fathers.
The Shura Council decided to include a new article last month in the law.
It stipulates that children of Bahraini women have to be permanent residents in order to benefit from equal rights.
The bill allows expatriate wives the same treatment as their Bahraini counterparts in services such as government fees, education, health and an exemption from residency visa requirements.
Parliament also agreed with the Shura Council to reject an amendment among several others to the Trade Unions Law that would have allowed more than one union in the same establishment on the basis that it would create tension and division between employees.
MPs also agreed with councillors on setting up a new medical licences and services authority, after a vote to reject the Shura Council amendments was halted by parliament chairman Khalifa Al Dhahrani early this month, asking MPs to study it further.
They also approved an amended bill by the council granting GCC nationals equal rights as Bahraini businessmen when setting up businesses in Bahrain.
Parliament was also on its way to insist on its decision in regard to three other laws amended by the council but decided to postpone discussions until tomorrow's extraordinary session, which was later cancelled as MPs voted for a day off.
Parliament had earlier approved a bill to pay pensions of the deceased in the government, private and military sectors to distant relatives if they had no close family members.
However, the council rejected the bill, saying that pensions were not inheritance and could not be dealt with in the manner MPs wanted.
Services committee chairman Dr Ali Ahmed said parliament was hoping to approve all of Shura's decisions but found it difficult to approve the remaining three bills.
"I have been very lenient with councillors despite some disagreements on their approach to articles in the medical licences and services authority," he said.
"My committee liked the addition of children of Bahraini women and the ban on the formation of several unions in one establishment and according to that I recommended their approval. "But I have a huge dispute with councillors over the pension laws and parliament would have insisted on its previous decision if MPs did not decide to postpone discussing it. "Thankfully the major laws have been approved and are now in the hands of His Majesty King Hamad to ratify."
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Magreb: New Video from Al-Qaeda Maghreb Showcases Suicide Bombers, Young Children Raised in Jihad Camps
MEMRI
The media wing of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has released the second video in its "Lovers of the Virgins of Paradise" series, which is devoted to documentation and praise of the organization's suicide bombers, as well as features young children of mujahideen, who grew up in jihad camps.
http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP232909
The media wing of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has released the second video in its "Lovers of the Virgins of Paradise" series, which is devoted to documentation and praise of the organization's suicide bombers, as well as features young children of mujahideen, who grew up in jihad camps.
http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP232909
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Jordan: WARCATI seeks to educate women on their legal rights
The Jordan Times
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN - The Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) on Monday launched the third phase of a project aimed at legally empowering Jordanian women and their children.
The project, “Women and Children's Rights through Access to Information” (WARCATI), uses computer programmes and technology to educate women on their legal rights.
The software will be distributed to women and installed on computers at courthouses, including Sharia courts, JNCW Secretary General Asma Khader said at the launch yesterday.
Implemented by UNDP's Information and Communication Technology for Development in the Arab Region (ICTDAR), WARCATI is a women’s empowerment initiative that uses technology as a tool to give women greater understanding and knowledge of their rights.
It is specifically designed to benefit women in difficult circumstances, such as those in failed marriages who find themselves without any means to support themselves or their children.
The initiative uses ICT to empower women’s support mechanisms by developing relevant legal information in a digital format and disseminating it through CDs, websites, video and audio tapes, and telephone hotlines.
The content, in Arabic, includes full keyword-searchable legal text, as well as information on civil, legal and religious issues relating to family law, including child support payments, marriage, divorce, labour, adoption and custody.
"I hope that this project will ensure the rights of women in the Arab world and that no woman would fall victim to ignorance, fear or violence,” said Ziad Haddara, senior programme officer at ICTDAR. “Then we are certain that we are advancing in the human development field," he added.
The project materials developed in Jordan include CDs, booklets and a website (www.warcati.jo), which contains in-depth information on hundreds of FAQs, legal forms, requests and pleas in digital and printable format.
In addition, there will be training programmes for community workers that assist women in court to guarantee the proper use of the project materials.
Development of the computer software was the third and last phase of the project, which was developed in partnership with ICTDAR and support from the Spanish embassy and began in 2007.
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN - The Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) on Monday launched the third phase of a project aimed at legally empowering Jordanian women and their children.
The project, “Women and Children's Rights through Access to Information” (WARCATI), uses computer programmes and technology to educate women on their legal rights.
The software will be distributed to women and installed on computers at courthouses, including Sharia courts, JNCW Secretary General Asma Khader said at the launch yesterday.
Implemented by UNDP's Information and Communication Technology for Development in the Arab Region (ICTDAR), WARCATI is a women’s empowerment initiative that uses technology as a tool to give women greater understanding and knowledge of their rights.
It is specifically designed to benefit women in difficult circumstances, such as those in failed marriages who find themselves without any means to support themselves or their children.
The initiative uses ICT to empower women’s support mechanisms by developing relevant legal information in a digital format and disseminating it through CDs, websites, video and audio tapes, and telephone hotlines.
The content, in Arabic, includes full keyword-searchable legal text, as well as information on civil, legal and religious issues relating to family law, including child support payments, marriage, divorce, labour, adoption and custody.
"I hope that this project will ensure the rights of women in the Arab world and that no woman would fall victim to ignorance, fear or violence,” said Ziad Haddara, senior programme officer at ICTDAR. “Then we are certain that we are advancing in the human development field," he added.
The project materials developed in Jordan include CDs, booklets and a website (www.warcati.jo), which contains in-depth information on hundreds of FAQs, legal forms, requests and pleas in digital and printable format.
In addition, there will be training programmes for community workers that assist women in court to guarantee the proper use of the project materials.
Development of the computer software was the third and last phase of the project, which was developed in partnership with ICTDAR and support from the Spanish embassy and began in 2007.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Saudi Arabia: Saudi judge refuses to annul 8-year-old's marriage
By Mohammed Jamjoom
(CNN) -- A Saudi judge has refused for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man, a relative of the girl told CNN.
The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl's mother, who was seeking a divorce for her daughter.
The relative said the judge, Sheikh Habib Al-Habib, "stuck by his earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for a divorce once she reached puberty." The family member, who requested anonymity, added that the mother will continue to pursue a divorce for her daughter.
The case, which has drawn criticism from local and international rights groups, came to light in December when al-Habib declined to annul the marriage on a legal technicality. The judge ruled the girl's mother -- who is separated from the girl's father -- was not the girl's legal guardian and therefore could not represent her in court, according to Abdullah al-Jutaili, the mother's lawyer.
The girl's father, according to the attorney, arranged the marriage in order to settle his debts with the man, who is "a close friend" of his. At the time of the initial verdict, the judge required the girl's husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty, al-Jutaili told CNN. The judge ruled that when the girl reaches puberty, she will have the right to request a divorce by filing a petition with the court, the lawyer said.
Last month, an appeals court in the Saudi capital of Riyadh declined to certify the original ruling, in essence rejecting al-Habib's verdict, and sent the case back to al-Habib for reconsideration.
Under the complicated Saudi legal process, the appeals court ruling meant that the marriage was still in effect, but that a challenge to the marriage was still ongoing. The appeals court in Riyadh will now take up the case again and a hearing is scheduled for next month, according to the relative.
The issue of child marriage has been a hot-button topic in the deeply conservative kingdom recently. While rights groups have been petitioning the government to enact laws that would protect children from this type of marriage, the kingdom's top cleric has said that it's OK for girls as young as 10 to wed.
"It is incorrect to say that it's not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger," Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom's grand mufti, said in remarks last January quoted in the regional Al-Hayat newspaper. "A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she's too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her."
Al-Sheikh reportedly made the remarks when he was asked during a lecture about parents forcing their underage daughters to marry.
"We hear a lot in the media about the marriage of underage girls," he said, according to the newspaper. "We should know that Sharia law has not brought injustice to women."
Sharia law is Islamic law. Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism.
CNN was unable to reach government officials for comment.
Christoph Wilcke, a Saudi Arabia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told CNN in December that his organization has heard of many other cases of child marriages.
"We've been hearing about these types of cases once every four or five months because the Saudi public is now able to express this kind of anger -- especially so when girls are traded off to older men," Wilcke said.
Wilcke explained that while Saudi ministries may make decisions designed to protect children, "It is still the religious establishment that holds sway in the courts, and in many realms beyond the court."
Last December, Zuhair al-Harithi, a spokesman for the Saudi government-run Human Rights Commission, said his organization is fighting against child marriages.
"The Human Rights Commission opposes child marriages in Saudi Arabia," al-Harithi said. "Child marriages violate international agreements that have been signed by Saudi Arabia and should not be allowed." He added that his organization has been able to intervene and stop at least one child marriage from taking place.
Wajeha al-Huwaider, co-founder of the Society of Defending Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia, told CNN that achieving human rights in the kingdom means standing against those who want to "keep us backward and in the dark ages."
She said the marriages cause girls to "lose their sense of security and safety. Also, it destroys their feeling of being loved and nurtured. It causes them a lifetime of psychological problems and severe depression."
(CNN) -- A Saudi judge has refused for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man, a relative of the girl told CNN.
The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl's mother, who was seeking a divorce for her daughter.
The relative said the judge, Sheikh Habib Al-Habib, "stuck by his earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for a divorce once she reached puberty." The family member, who requested anonymity, added that the mother will continue to pursue a divorce for her daughter.
The case, which has drawn criticism from local and international rights groups, came to light in December when al-Habib declined to annul the marriage on a legal technicality. The judge ruled the girl's mother -- who is separated from the girl's father -- was not the girl's legal guardian and therefore could not represent her in court, according to Abdullah al-Jutaili, the mother's lawyer.
The girl's father, according to the attorney, arranged the marriage in order to settle his debts with the man, who is "a close friend" of his. At the time of the initial verdict, the judge required the girl's husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty, al-Jutaili told CNN. The judge ruled that when the girl reaches puberty, she will have the right to request a divorce by filing a petition with the court, the lawyer said.
Last month, an appeals court in the Saudi capital of Riyadh declined to certify the original ruling, in essence rejecting al-Habib's verdict, and sent the case back to al-Habib for reconsideration.
Under the complicated Saudi legal process, the appeals court ruling meant that the marriage was still in effect, but that a challenge to the marriage was still ongoing. The appeals court in Riyadh will now take up the case again and a hearing is scheduled for next month, according to the relative.
The issue of child marriage has been a hot-button topic in the deeply conservative kingdom recently. While rights groups have been petitioning the government to enact laws that would protect children from this type of marriage, the kingdom's top cleric has said that it's OK for girls as young as 10 to wed.
"It is incorrect to say that it's not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger," Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom's grand mufti, said in remarks last January quoted in the regional Al-Hayat newspaper. "A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she's too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her."
Al-Sheikh reportedly made the remarks when he was asked during a lecture about parents forcing their underage daughters to marry.
"We hear a lot in the media about the marriage of underage girls," he said, according to the newspaper. "We should know that Sharia law has not brought injustice to women."
Sharia law is Islamic law. Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism.
CNN was unable to reach government officials for comment.
Christoph Wilcke, a Saudi Arabia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told CNN in December that his organization has heard of many other cases of child marriages.
"We've been hearing about these types of cases once every four or five months because the Saudi public is now able to express this kind of anger -- especially so when girls are traded off to older men," Wilcke said.
Wilcke explained that while Saudi ministries may make decisions designed to protect children, "It is still the religious establishment that holds sway in the courts, and in many realms beyond the court."
Last December, Zuhair al-Harithi, a spokesman for the Saudi government-run Human Rights Commission, said his organization is fighting against child marriages.
"The Human Rights Commission opposes child marriages in Saudi Arabia," al-Harithi said. "Child marriages violate international agreements that have been signed by Saudi Arabia and should not be allowed." He added that his organization has been able to intervene and stop at least one child marriage from taking place.
Wajeha al-Huwaider, co-founder of the Society of Defending Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia, told CNN that achieving human rights in the kingdom means standing against those who want to "keep us backward and in the dark ages."
She said the marriages cause girls to "lose their sense of security and safety. Also, it destroys their feeling of being loved and nurtured. It causes them a lifetime of psychological problems and severe depression."
Egypt: Egypt Wrestles With 'Female Genital Mutilation'
[Cairo, Egypt] In June 2007, 12-year-old Badour Shakour died as a result of a circumcision operation. The death sparked a battle within the country over the use of the controversial medical procedure.
Women’s and children’s rights groups were galvanized into action, pushing for more stringent penalties against those who carry out what is increasingly becoming known as female genital mutilation (FGM).
Shakour’s cause of death was an overdose of anesthetic, but her memory was the cause of an awakening that reached to the upper echelons of government.
In summer 2008, Egypt’s parliament passed a law that ostensibly bans the controversial procedure, not that it should have needed to legislate against FGM – it was already officially banned in the country during the mid-Nineties. But with doctors continuing to perform the procedure on girls as young as five, parliament felt it was necessary to intercede.
The new law stipulates a fine of 1,000–5,000 Egyptian pounds ($185–$900) and a prison term of anywhere between three months and two years if caught performing FGM.
A doctor could also lose his medical license. In the case of Shakour, the doctor who performed the procedure remains in prison after being convicted of manslaughter.
But despite the rising number of deaths and injuries that have resulted from FGM, including a young girl who was left struggling for her life in November after the procedure, many Egyptians are fighting against the ban.
A 2005 report by UNICEF contended that 97 percent of single Egyptian women between 15 and 49 have undergone some form of FGM, although other estimates put the number at 70 percent.
Member of Parliament Mohamed Al Omda, from a small opposition party, brought his three daughters to the floor of the People’s Assembly to protest the ban last year. One of his daughters carried a sign that read: “No to any attempt to forbid what is divinely allowed. No to any attempt to allow what is divinely forbidden.” Two of his three daughters are circumcised.
Many conservative Muslims in the country maintain that the practice is condoned in Islam. The country’s Muslim Brotherhood has come under fire over many of their members’ denunciations of the parliamentary bill. The powerful Islamic group and many Islamic scholars argue that the ban is akin to “imposing Western ideals” on Egyptian society, which they maintain is based in Shari’a (Islamic law).
"Religion does not prohibit or criminalize female circumcision," prominent Islamic scholar Mustafa Al Shaka said to the local press shortly after the bill was passed.
The Brotherhood told The Media Line that they were currently reviewing FGM in terms of its legitimacy within Islam and did not want to comment. Despite this assertion, last summer, their MPs – who won one-fifth of the People’s Assembly as independents – were the most ardent opponents of the bill.
Progressive Islamic scholar Gamal Al Banna – brother of late Brotherhood founder Hassan Al Banna – says there is simply no precedent in Islam for this kind of practice. He argues that it was imported into society as a means of forcing women into the background of everyday life.
“It didn’t exist in Islamic history and those who argue it is Islamic or part of the Shari’a are wrong,” the 87-year-old argued. “Religion does not subscribe to this kind of treatment that can cause death and other horrible results. It is un-Islamic.”
Al Azhar, the Sunni Islamic world’s leading religious authority, agrees with Al Banna. In 2007, the Council of Islamic Research issued a statement saying that FGM and cutting are “harmful, have no basis in core Islamic law and should not be practiced.”
But Egyptian society remains divided into opposing camps over the issue, says National Council for Motherhood and Childhood secretary-general Moushira Khattab. She believes that although the ban will remain permanent, it will take time to educate the population over the long-term effects of cutting a woman’s clitoris.
“Nobody is going to say no to something that has negative effects caused by the procedure and, in time, Egyptians will see this,” she begins. “So the punishments that are being handed out against those who conduct this practice are vitally necessary.”
UNICEF estimates that three million girls in Africa undergo FGM annually, including in Egypt. The practice is a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989.
The practice remains common in Egypt, especially among the rural communities outside the capital Cairo and Alexandria. According to a 2005 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey, the majority of FGM procedures have been performed by trained medical personnel.
Human rights groups and doctors in the country argue that the involvement of medical workers in the procedure is a major reason the procedure continues.
“We have to work slowly and cannot expect everything to change with one law. Egyptians are stubborn and if they believe this is part of their religion, then it is very difficult to convince them otherwise, even if they are trained doctors,” said a female doctor at the country’s Doctor’s Syndicate, who asked not to be named, as the controversy continues inside its doors.
With children in danger, the doctor argues that Egyptians must move forward in order to limit these sorts of practices.
“We are struggling as a country, and until everyone is being educated, it is so difficult to achieve progress on anything, let alone FGM.”
Like so many controversial issues facing Egypt today, the seemingly endless battle between secularism and Islam continues to put opposing sides on the defensive. Al Banna believes that issues such as FGM will not be resolved within society until there is space for open debate on all things, including religion.
“We need to be able to debate religion freely, or else we will not be able to have people making their own decisions; instead they will follow their local sheikh as if he were the only source for reason,” he concludes.
SOURCE: The Media Line
AUTHOR: Joseph Mayton
DATE: 20/04/2009
Women’s and children’s rights groups were galvanized into action, pushing for more stringent penalties against those who carry out what is increasingly becoming known as female genital mutilation (FGM).
Shakour’s cause of death was an overdose of anesthetic, but her memory was the cause of an awakening that reached to the upper echelons of government.
In summer 2008, Egypt’s parliament passed a law that ostensibly bans the controversial procedure, not that it should have needed to legislate against FGM – it was already officially banned in the country during the mid-Nineties. But with doctors continuing to perform the procedure on girls as young as five, parliament felt it was necessary to intercede.
The new law stipulates a fine of 1,000–5,000 Egyptian pounds ($185–$900) and a prison term of anywhere between three months and two years if caught performing FGM.
A doctor could also lose his medical license. In the case of Shakour, the doctor who performed the procedure remains in prison after being convicted of manslaughter.
But despite the rising number of deaths and injuries that have resulted from FGM, including a young girl who was left struggling for her life in November after the procedure, many Egyptians are fighting against the ban.
A 2005 report by UNICEF contended that 97 percent of single Egyptian women between 15 and 49 have undergone some form of FGM, although other estimates put the number at 70 percent.
Member of Parliament Mohamed Al Omda, from a small opposition party, brought his three daughters to the floor of the People’s Assembly to protest the ban last year. One of his daughters carried a sign that read: “No to any attempt to forbid what is divinely allowed. No to any attempt to allow what is divinely forbidden.” Two of his three daughters are circumcised.
Many conservative Muslims in the country maintain that the practice is condoned in Islam. The country’s Muslim Brotherhood has come under fire over many of their members’ denunciations of the parliamentary bill. The powerful Islamic group and many Islamic scholars argue that the ban is akin to “imposing Western ideals” on Egyptian society, which they maintain is based in Shari’a (Islamic law).
"Religion does not prohibit or criminalize female circumcision," prominent Islamic scholar Mustafa Al Shaka said to the local press shortly after the bill was passed.
The Brotherhood told The Media Line that they were currently reviewing FGM in terms of its legitimacy within Islam and did not want to comment. Despite this assertion, last summer, their MPs – who won one-fifth of the People’s Assembly as independents – were the most ardent opponents of the bill.
Progressive Islamic scholar Gamal Al Banna – brother of late Brotherhood founder Hassan Al Banna – says there is simply no precedent in Islam for this kind of practice. He argues that it was imported into society as a means of forcing women into the background of everyday life.
“It didn’t exist in Islamic history and those who argue it is Islamic or part of the Shari’a are wrong,” the 87-year-old argued. “Religion does not subscribe to this kind of treatment that can cause death and other horrible results. It is un-Islamic.”
Al Azhar, the Sunni Islamic world’s leading religious authority, agrees with Al Banna. In 2007, the Council of Islamic Research issued a statement saying that FGM and cutting are “harmful, have no basis in core Islamic law and should not be practiced.”
But Egyptian society remains divided into opposing camps over the issue, says National Council for Motherhood and Childhood secretary-general Moushira Khattab. She believes that although the ban will remain permanent, it will take time to educate the population over the long-term effects of cutting a woman’s clitoris.
“Nobody is going to say no to something that has negative effects caused by the procedure and, in time, Egyptians will see this,” she begins. “So the punishments that are being handed out against those who conduct this practice are vitally necessary.”
UNICEF estimates that three million girls in Africa undergo FGM annually, including in Egypt. The practice is a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989.
The practice remains common in Egypt, especially among the rural communities outside the capital Cairo and Alexandria. According to a 2005 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey, the majority of FGM procedures have been performed by trained medical personnel.
Human rights groups and doctors in the country argue that the involvement of medical workers in the procedure is a major reason the procedure continues.
“We have to work slowly and cannot expect everything to change with one law. Egyptians are stubborn and if they believe this is part of their religion, then it is very difficult to convince them otherwise, even if they are trained doctors,” said a female doctor at the country’s Doctor’s Syndicate, who asked not to be named, as the controversy continues inside its doors.
With children in danger, the doctor argues that Egyptians must move forward in order to limit these sorts of practices.
“We are struggling as a country, and until everyone is being educated, it is so difficult to achieve progress on anything, let alone FGM.”
Like so many controversial issues facing Egypt today, the seemingly endless battle between secularism and Islam continues to put opposing sides on the defensive. Al Banna believes that issues such as FGM will not be resolved within society until there is space for open debate on all things, including religion.
“We need to be able to debate religion freely, or else we will not be able to have people making their own decisions; instead they will follow their local sheikh as if he were the only source for reason,” he concludes.
SOURCE: The Media Line
AUTHOR: Joseph Mayton
DATE: 20/04/2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Lebanon: Lebanese wives of foreigners demand equal rights
AFP
Apr 9, 2009
BEIRUT (AFP) — Lebanese women married to foreigners demanded in Beirut on Thursday the right to pass on their nationality to their children, threatening to boycott June elections if they do not get their way.
"You will not have our votes, and next time there will be more of us across Lebanon," the women shouted at a demonstration organised by a branch of the League of Lebanese Women's Rights.
The organisers estimate there are 18,000 such women in the country affected by a law that bars them from passing citizenship to their children.
The measure is widely viewed as an attempt to prevent refugees in Lebanon from getting citizenship.
Thousands of Palestinians fled to Lebanon when Israel was created in 1948, and the country hosts 410,000 of them and their descendants, most of whom live in refugee camps and are denied many basic rights.
Bariha Haraji, a 39-year-old mother of two married to a Palestinian, says she suffers because of the law.
"My husband was born in Lebanon. My children were born in Lebanon. They are Lebanese. They have nothing to do with Palestine, and still they are denied Lebanese citizenship," Haraji told AFP.
Siham Jabbour, 43, says the "government is punishing me because I married a non-Lebanese."
Also a mother of two, whose husband is Georgian, she tells of the hours she spends in offices to renew her children's residency papers.
"I pay my taxes. I work to support my family, and no one gives a damn what we go through every day," she said.
Lebanon heads to the polls on June 7 for a parliamentary election that many say will define the country's future, at least for the next four years.
Apr 9, 2009
BEIRUT (AFP) — Lebanese women married to foreigners demanded in Beirut on Thursday the right to pass on their nationality to their children, threatening to boycott June elections if they do not get their way.
"You will not have our votes, and next time there will be more of us across Lebanon," the women shouted at a demonstration organised by a branch of the League of Lebanese Women's Rights.
The organisers estimate there are 18,000 such women in the country affected by a law that bars them from passing citizenship to their children.
The measure is widely viewed as an attempt to prevent refugees in Lebanon from getting citizenship.
Thousands of Palestinians fled to Lebanon when Israel was created in 1948, and the country hosts 410,000 of them and their descendants, most of whom live in refugee camps and are denied many basic rights.
Bariha Haraji, a 39-year-old mother of two married to a Palestinian, says she suffers because of the law.
"My husband was born in Lebanon. My children were born in Lebanon. They are Lebanese. They have nothing to do with Palestine, and still they are denied Lebanese citizenship," Haraji told AFP.
Siham Jabbour, 43, says the "government is punishing me because I married a non-Lebanese."
Also a mother of two, whose husband is Georgian, she tells of the hours she spends in offices to renew her children's residency papers.
"I pay my taxes. I work to support my family, and no one gives a damn what we go through every day," she said.
Lebanon heads to the polls on June 7 for a parliamentary election that many say will define the country's future, at least for the next four years.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Bahrain: Mothers fighting for justice
By BASMA MOHAMMED, Posted on » Wednesday, April 08, 2009
THREE Bahraini mothers took their fight for justice to the gates of parliament yesterday, as MPs gathered inside the building for their weekly meeting.
They were hoping to persuade MPs to pass a much-awaited Family Law, saying they were fed up with women suffering at the hands of the Sharia courts.
Mother-of-four Amal Juma Abdulla led the hour-and-a-half protest and claimed women were crying out for a Family Law, which would put down in writing how courts should handle domestic disputes.
Sharia judges issue verdicts in divorce cases, child custody battles and inheritance disputes, based on their interpretation of Islamic law.
However, women's rights campaigners have claimed for years that judges often discriminate against women.
"We are demonstrating to call on MPs to find a Family Law for the Jaffari court (which handles domestic cases of the Shi'ite community)," said Ms Abdulla.
"They are discussing the Family Law for the Sunni court, but we are reminding them that we are suffering as well."
The demonstration was organised to vent frustration at MPs for failing to come up with a Family Law to protect women.
However, some clerics are said to oppose the move due to fears it could loosen their grip on the community.
"Some MPs are against this law," claimed Ms Abdulla.
"They should discuss women's problems - not only men's."
Disputes
It was her second protest in a week, having demonstrated outside the Justice Ministry with three of her children on March 31.
The GDN reported at the time that her divorce proceedings had apparently been cancelled after three years by the Sharia court, because she refused to accept child support of BD100 a month from her estranged husband.
She is still legally married to him because she rejected the final settlement, which would have also seen her pay him a one-off BD500.
She is also embroiled in a court dispute with her husband over ownership of their house, which is in her name and was given to them after they were forced to sleep rough because their old home became dangerously dilapidated.
The 33-year-old housewife was joined at yesterday's protest by Zahra Sabah Nasser Hassan and Fadheela Salman.
They held up signs that said: "Sorry MPs, but we are women suffering from injustice. Is our suffering forever?" and "We are abandoned women asking for a law that can protect us."
Ms Salman was there to extend support, but Ms Hassan appeared in the GDN in February after the Crown Prince's Court answered her call for a new home.
It offered her a new house after the Sharia court evicted her from the home she shared with her ex-husband.
The mother-of-two fought for child support and a housing allowance from her ex-husband between 2004 and 2008, but the Sharia court evicted her after ordering her ex-husband to pay her BD70 a month for housing.
THREE Bahraini mothers took their fight for justice to the gates of parliament yesterday, as MPs gathered inside the building for their weekly meeting.
They were hoping to persuade MPs to pass a much-awaited Family Law, saying they were fed up with women suffering at the hands of the Sharia courts.
Mother-of-four Amal Juma Abdulla led the hour-and-a-half protest and claimed women were crying out for a Family Law, which would put down in writing how courts should handle domestic disputes.
Sharia judges issue verdicts in divorce cases, child custody battles and inheritance disputes, based on their interpretation of Islamic law.
However, women's rights campaigners have claimed for years that judges often discriminate against women.
"We are demonstrating to call on MPs to find a Family Law for the Jaffari court (which handles domestic cases of the Shi'ite community)," said Ms Abdulla.
"They are discussing the Family Law for the Sunni court, but we are reminding them that we are suffering as well."
The demonstration was organised to vent frustration at MPs for failing to come up with a Family Law to protect women.
However, some clerics are said to oppose the move due to fears it could loosen their grip on the community.
"Some MPs are against this law," claimed Ms Abdulla.
"They should discuss women's problems - not only men's."
Disputes
It was her second protest in a week, having demonstrated outside the Justice Ministry with three of her children on March 31.
The GDN reported at the time that her divorce proceedings had apparently been cancelled after three years by the Sharia court, because she refused to accept child support of BD100 a month from her estranged husband.
She is still legally married to him because she rejected the final settlement, which would have also seen her pay him a one-off BD500.
She is also embroiled in a court dispute with her husband over ownership of their house, which is in her name and was given to them after they were forced to sleep rough because their old home became dangerously dilapidated.
The 33-year-old housewife was joined at yesterday's protest by Zahra Sabah Nasser Hassan and Fadheela Salman.
They held up signs that said: "Sorry MPs, but we are women suffering from injustice. Is our suffering forever?" and "We are abandoned women asking for a law that can protect us."
Ms Salman was there to extend support, but Ms Hassan appeared in the GDN in February after the Crown Prince's Court answered her call for a new home.
It offered her a new house after the Sharia court evicted her from the home she shared with her ex-husband.
The mother-of-two fought for child support and a housing allowance from her ex-husband between 2004 and 2008, but the Sharia court evicted her after ordering her ex-husband to pay her BD70 a month for housing.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Yemen: Parliament ratifies amended Yemeni citizenship law
Written By: Abdul-Aziz Oudah
Article Date: Apr 4, 2009 - 7:03:58 AM
The parliament ratified in it session held on Tuesday a legal article on Yemeni citizenship, the original article item No. 3 of the law No. 6 issued in 1990 over Yemeni citizenship has now been amended to stipulates that any person born to a Yemeni father or mother has the right to hold Yemeni citizenship.
According to the law, any person born in Yemen to a woman has the right to carry Yemeni citizenship and the child’s relation to his/her father does not need to be proved. Indeed anyone born in Yemen to unknown parents is also considered Yemeni and has the right to acquire citizenship.
The law gives the right to any emigrant holding Yemeni citizenship upon departure and continuing to maintain citizenship, to gain the citizenship if he/she so requires even if he/she has a citizenship from another country.
Anyone that has citizenship via their mother and reaches the age of maturity is given the right to choose whether to maintain the Yemeni citizenship or to join that of his/her father.
The parliament’s session, headed by Speaker Yahya Arra’i ratified the law on the bases of the Constitutional and Law Committee’s report. The session was attended by a number of concerned government officials.
Article Date: Apr 4, 2009 - 7:03:58 AM
The parliament ratified in it session held on Tuesday a legal article on Yemeni citizenship, the original article item No. 3 of the law No. 6 issued in 1990 over Yemeni citizenship has now been amended to stipulates that any person born to a Yemeni father or mother has the right to hold Yemeni citizenship.
According to the law, any person born in Yemen to a woman has the right to carry Yemeni citizenship and the child’s relation to his/her father does not need to be proved. Indeed anyone born in Yemen to unknown parents is also considered Yemeni and has the right to acquire citizenship.
The law gives the right to any emigrant holding Yemeni citizenship upon departure and continuing to maintain citizenship, to gain the citizenship if he/she so requires even if he/she has a citizenship from another country.
Anyone that has citizenship via their mother and reaches the age of maturity is given the right to choose whether to maintain the Yemeni citizenship or to join that of his/her father.
The parliament’s session, headed by Speaker Yahya Arra’i ratified the law on the bases of the Constitutional and Law Committee’s report. The session was attended by a number of concerned government officials.
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