Mosque preachers and religious guides call for highlighting the rights of the Palestinian child

Gaza, Publication and Information Unit:

A number of mosque preachers and religious guides recommended working to highlight the issue of children's rights from the pulpits and to increase guidance for parents on ways of dealing with their sons and daughters, during a workshop organised by the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution.

These recommendations came to mark World Children's Day, for which the child protection teams at the Conflict Resolution Center organised a series of workshops in coordination with the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in the Gaza governorates, with the participation of 50 mosque preachers and religious guides. The workshops were held at the Centre's main premises as well as at its premises in the Middle and Khan Younis governorates.

In the details of the main workshop held at the Centre's premises in Gaza City, Iyad Abu Hjair, director of the Conflict Resolution Center's Gaza branch, valued the continuous efforts made by the Ministry of Endowments in guiding citizens through Friday sermons, seminars and religious programmes. He called for giving greater space to addressing children's issues and for highlighting their important role in refining children's skills and protecting them, because they are the builders of the future.

For his part, the director general of preaching and guidance at the Ministry of Endowments, Youssef Farahat, addressed a message to all preachers and religious figures to give attention to children's issues and to guide parents on how to deal with their children when they are exposed to community risks. He said: "The ministry, in coordination with civil society organisations, foremost among them the Conflict Resolution Center, is seeking to hold a set of guidance meetings to support the rights of the child in the Palestinian territories."

At the end of the workshop, the participants called for activating the laws that support the Palestinian child and for unifying the efforts aimed at supporting children towards a bright future without fear, and at supporting parents by guiding and advising them in facing social challenges.