The seminar organized by the Kuwait Human Rights Office concluded that strict measures should be taken to prevent child labor, saying some parents profit from the earnings of their young children.
The speakers in the discussion panel which was held under the title ‘Kuwaiti Charity Organizations and their Extended Support for Childhood’ expressed their categorical rejection of violating the innocence of young children, exploiting them and depriving them of their constitutionally and legally guaranteed rights, reports a local Arabic daily.
The Vice-President of the National Bureau of Human Rights and President of the Kuwait Society for Child Protection, Dr. Siham Al-Fraih, stressed on the need to address the phenomenon of child labor and put an end to the phenomenon of street vendors that endanger the life of the child and expose his personality to various forms of harm and violations and offend Kuwaiti society.
Al-Fraih indicated that there are many parties that help the campaign that has been launched under the title ‘Towards a Safe Childhood’ by providing it with statistics, information and figures on the conditions of these children, whose parents push them to work to earn quick money at the expense of people’s sympathy for them.
Al-Fraih called for strengthening the partnership between state agencies and civil society institutions to address this phenomenon in order to save children from this danger to their lives, behavior and personality.
Director of the Rehabilitation and Evaluation Department at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Dr. Nasser Al-Ajmi, praised the charitable pioneering role played by government and private institutions in supporting needy families inside Kuwait, from which children in particular benefit.
He pointed out that the support provided is not limited to material support only, but that psychological support and rehabilitation are no less important than material support.
For her part, Director of the Endowment Funds Department at the General Secretariat of Endowments, Maarib Al-Yacoub, pointed to the administration’s role in investing endowments and disbursing its proceeds through projects that it established with an effective community partnership in accordance with legal controls represented in the feeding and clothing project, caring for the disabled, supporting community development, sponsoring orphans and providing health care.
The head of the Kuwaiti Association for Needy Families, Bader Al-Mubarak, explained that the association is the first Kuwaiti association to contribute to the support of needy families inside Kuwait only, and its role is not limited to financial support only, but also provides psychological and social support.
Dr. Salman Al-Lafi, the General Supervisor of the ‘Right with the Orphans’ project, which operates under the umbrella of Salsabil Charity Society, spoke about the project’s role in devoting social responsibility, which constitutes comprehensive care for orphans and families who lost their breadwinner in Kuwait through educational, financial, psychological and social care.
Al-Yacoub announced the department sponsors 104 orphans and 39 educators.