Amidst an upsurge in violence and terrorism in various parts of the world, the UAE is working with international relief actors to provide the much needed humanitarian assistance to women, girls and children who are victims of wars and conflicts, a UAE female MP has said.

''The UAE is also building international partnerships to protect those victims and criminalise sponsors and supporters of terrorism,'' Afra Al Basti, member of the UAE Federal National Council's Parliamentary Division, commented during an intervention at the 23rd Meeting of Women Parliamentarians being held in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, as part of the 134th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly.

''The UAE has called for adoption of international policies that reduce violent acts against women and children and help bring sponsors of terrorism to justice. International laws should be enforced and global partnerships should be forged to combat trafficking in persons,'' she stressed during the session on women’s participation in politics and young women’s political empowerment which was opened by Zambian Minister of Gender and Child Development Nkandu Luo in the presence of President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Saber Hossain Chowdhury.

Socially, she noted that the UAE was building camps for war victims and providing them with social, health and psychological support services. The UAE is also supporting countries in establishing houses for sheltering war victims. the UAE is adopting an approach of tolerance in dealing with all countries and it has created a portfolio for tolerance held by a woman,'' she added.

Another UAE woman MP Dr. Nedal Al Tunaji addressed a session on "Terrorism: The need to enhance global cooperation against the threat to democracy and individual rights," emphasising the UAE's commitment to include fundamental human rights as enshrined in the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

''The UAE has also joined and ratified major international conventions for human rights, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1974, the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1997, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2004 and the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in 2007,'' she said.
Source:WAM