Riyadh, February 07 (QNA) - The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) signed a technical cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, within the framework of enhancing institutional partnership and expanding areas of joint coordination on issues of protecting and promoting human rights, serving mutual interests, and consolidating the principles of justice, equality, and mutual respect between the two sides.

The MoU was signed by HE NHRC Chairperson Mariam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah, and HE President of the Saudi HRC Dr. Hala bint Mazyad Al Tuwaijri.

The MoU aims to develop mechanisms for technical work, exchange experiences, build the capacities of specialized personnel, and launch joint programs and initiatives that contribute to supporting human rights culture and raising societal awareness, in addition to documenting regional cooperation in areas related to human rights.

In this context, HE Mariam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah said this step represents an extension of the NHRC's approach in enhancing Gulf cooperation and exchanging best professional practices, emphasizing that technical partnerships contribute to developing institutional performance, improving the quality of human rights services provided to the community, and supporting ongoing training and qualification paths for workers in the sector.

Her Excellency added that the MoU opens the way for wider coordination in implementing joint initiatives and exchanging knowledge and experiences, enhancing the protection of rights and freedoms, and raising legal and humanitarian awareness among various groups.

She affirmed that the MoU reflects the Committee's direction toward expanding its regional partnership network and building a more integrated human rights work system, noting that exchanging institutional experiences in the region provides real opportunities for developing policies and preventive and awareness programs, enhancing responsiveness to emerging human rights issues, protecting rights and freedoms, and fostering a culture of respect for human dignity in society.

The MoU also outlined several areas of cooperation, including joint work on building the capacities of personnel at both parties through specialized training programs, exchanging studies, research, and projects, publishing their results for mutual benefit, raising societal awareness of human rights culture, organizing reciprocal visits, seminars, lectures, and joint conferences, in addition to exchanging information, statistics, reports, and scientific publications, with attention to educating about the rights of persons with disabilities, children, women, and the elderly.

The MoU emphasized the importance of aligning cooperation activities with the national legislations in force in both countries, ensuring the efficient implementation of joint initiatives and enhancing integration between the two institutions in various priority human rights files.

Through this framework, both institutions seek to unify efforts in monitoring, awareness, and capacity building, and to benefit from the accumulated expertise of each party to develop institutional work tools and exchange specialized knowledge, contributing to building an advanced Gulf model in managing human rights issues.

The MoU is scheduled to enter into force after completing the legal procedures in both countries, and it will continue for several renewable years, ensuring the sustainability of joint programs and projects and achieving a long-term impact that positively reflects on enhancing and protecting rights and freedoms in both countries.

In a related context, HE the NHRC Chairperson Mariam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah met with Dr. Muhammad Al Shalfan, Director General of the Judicial Training Center at the Ministry of Justice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a member of the Saudi HRC Council, where they discussed prospects for cooperation in supporting the integration of human rights topics into training programs for judicial practitioners.

The meeting also addressed several cooperation areas, including introducing the role of the NHRC, emphasizing the importance of judicial training in supporting the implementation of international human rights standards, and reviewing the center's experiences in integrating human rights topics into training programs targeted at judges, lawyers, and justice service providers.

The two sides also touch upon the possibility of exchanging training programs, professional visits, and joint workshops, as well as partnership opportunities in preparing or updating shared training content focusing on human rights and international humanitarian law, alongside discussing challenges related to developing and applying training curricula, and ways of cooperation to find innovative solutions.

The meeting also dealt with mechanisms to measure the impact of training and its reflection on the performance of judges and lawyers, and its role in enhancing human rights protection and consolidating the principles of justice and fairness in judicial practices, contributing to building a more integrated and sustainable Gulf system in specialized human rights work and training. (QNA)