Gargash heads UAE Committee to develop Periodic Report on Human Rights in the UAE to the United Nations

His Excellency Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, chaired the meeting, which discussed in-depth the report to be presented to the Human Rights Council, Geneva, later this year.

The Human Rights Council seeks through the UAE's Periodic Report to support international efforts for enhancing human rights and evaluate the progress and challenges in this area.

The report is a medium to exchange experiences and best practices and to encourage cooperation between countries and the Human Rights Commissariat in the United Nations.

Dr Gargash and the committee members reviewed the general concept and subject areas of the report and emphasized importance of cooperation between concerned parties, to clarify the information and data presented.

Dr Gargash said: "The objective of the report is to highlight the UAE's commitment to enhancing awareness and practices related to human rights issues. The work methodology of the report adopted by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and the report of the Kingdom of Bahrain, were also discussed by the Committee".

Dr Gargash said: "The UAE is fully committed to and respects human rights as a universal core value and is committed to all international human rights agreements. The Periodic Report on Human Rights focuses on the achievements thus far made by the UAE in human rights practice. The report is not an evaluation tool but raises the challenges that face the government on issues related to human rights and demonstrates areas for improvement in legislation and implementation".

The UAE Periodic Report on Human Rights Committee comprises representatives from various ministries and government institutions, in addition to representatives from different sectors of the UAE creating a wide participant base from all the relevant bodies dealing with this issue in the country.