IIMSAM official Dr. Naseer Homoud observed UN Universal Children Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 20, 2009 --

November 20 is Universal Children's Day - a day to promote the plight of children worldwide and commemorate all of the world's youngest citizens. Every year thousands of children are subjected to torture. Children in conflict and post-conflict areas are at particularly high risk, but also street children in the slums of large cities around the world are routinely detained and tortured and are left to fight with hunger and malnutrition. This 20 November, IIMSAM urges all states to reinforce their efforts to protect these highly vulnerable groups against torture and all other forms of ill-treatment and to ensure that every child is supplied with his most fundamental right- the right to live.

On the occasion of UN Universal Children Day, Dr. Naseer Homoud Goodwill Ambassador and Director of Middle East office for the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition (IIMSAM), the Permanent Observer to the United Nations Economic and Social Council while addressing the media said “notwithstanding of this key obligation, children around the world continue to be victimized by conflict and violence, as was revealed by the report from UN Secretary General Office released in 2006 and other subsequent reports. Recruitment of child soldiers, trafficking, and detention of minors are just a few of the mechanisms through which children are exposed to torture and ill-treatment. Moreover, children of parents or other family members who have been subjected to torture suffer as secondary victims as they experience one or more of their loved-ones becoming introverted, depressed and/or aggressive”

Dr. Homoud further said “On this day, the IIMSAM urges all states to ratify and implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, as well as the UN Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol. IIMSAM also calls on all states to fully cooperate with the Committee on the Rights of the Child. With the help of these instruments states shall take all necessary measures to protect our most vulnerable citizens from torture, ill-treatment and other forms of violence and exploitation, to bring the perpetrators to justice and to grant children full reparation, in order to ensure that human rights also are children’s rights”.

Over the past year, IIMSAM teamed up on several occasions with other welfare organizations for instance in Qatar, to provide humanitarian relief to children and families in regions affected by freak weather conditions and earthquakes. Dr. Homoud while addressing the media said “ children are our assets and we have to preserve this most valuable assets- onus is on present generation to leave no stones unturned to protect childhood from unwarranted affairs.”

Dr. Naseer Homoud     IIMSAM     Universal Children Day