The 3rd Arab ISPCAN Regional Conference on Child Protection is organized by NGHA in collaboration with The National Family Safety Program (NFSP) and International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.
Child Protection in Arab Countries: Working Together towards Safer Childhood is the theme of the conference which will be held on March 1st 2009 until March 4th at King Faisal Convention Center at Riyadh Intercontinental Hotel.
The organizing committee NFSP was established following a Royal Decree on November 18th 2005. The government of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz provides direct funds support to the program. NESP is administratively linked to NGHA.
The Conference will shed the light on Child Protection. It aims at raising the awareness of the attendants whom will be professionals from different disciplines such as health professionals, educators, and law enforcements. It will host distinguished international and regional speakers in child protection advocacy. This will be a great opportunity to share their knowledge and research in preventing Child Abuse.
Child Abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power. Researches have found that child maltreatment would affect Child Abuse victims in developing the risk of psychiatric problems and different health problems in their adult life. According to the World Health Organization approximately 40 million children are subjected to child abuse each year.
The scientific program includes many plenary sessions, multiple discussion forums and workshops where scientific papers and researches will be presented on the topics of the causes and consequences of Child Abuse and how to prevent it.
The official language of the conference is Arabic; however there will be many sessions and workshops in English. There will be simultaneous translation in both languages for all sessions as well.
Since youth are the main focus in this important event NFSP invited all children from age 5-17 to participate in the Children Drawing Contest which accompanies The 3rd Arab-ISPCAN Regional Conference on Child Protection: Working Together towards a Safer Childhood. This contest promotes children’s participation in activities related to their rights and protection against violence.
In addition, the conference guests will have the opportunity to relax and enjoy the rich Saudi culture and traditions as part of the recreational and social activities. The social program will contain guided visits to some of the Saudi cultural landmarks such as Al Athriyah village and King Abdulaziz Historical Center.
The second conference for protection of children from violence and abuse was held at Sanaa June 2007. The recommendations of this conference were to activate the partnership with the religious institutions for the protection of children, and to address the Arab League to prevent child trafficking. In addition to that, there was a recommendation to work on developing children protection laws and establish specialized centers of community outreach.
NFSP at King Abdulaziz Medical City reported that they have received 89 case of children abuse in 2007 which is 8 times more that what was reported in the year 2005. The age of the reported cases ranged between less than two years to 16 years old, 51 were males and 38 were females. The reported abuse was physical, sexual and negligent treatment.
The first regional conference was held in Amman on December 2005 which focused mainly on domestic violence in the Arab world. It discussed the reasons, causes and consequences of domestic violence. There was a recommendation to hold this conference annually in order to activate its resolutions and recommendations by addressing the ministries and relevant institutions, professional networks, international organizations, civil society organizations and regional councils.
The second conference for protection of children from violence and abuse was held at Sanaa June 2007. The recommendations of this conference were to activate the partnership with the religious institutions for the protection of children, and to address the Arab League to prevent child trafficking. In addition to that, there was a recommendation to work on developing children protection laws and establish specialized centers of community outreach.
NFSP at King Abdulaziz Medical City reported that they have received 89 case of children abuse in 2007 which is 8 times more that what was reported in the year 2005. The age of the reported cases ranged between less than two years to 16 years old, 51 were males and 38 were females. The reported abuse was physical, sexual and negligent treatment.