- All faiths call for protecting children and the need to bring them up in a sound family environment.

- The Document on Human Fraternity states that the protection of children’s fundamental right to grow up in a family environment, to receive nutrition, education, and support, is the duty of the family and society. 

Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders (MCE) Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam stressed that serious action must be taken to ensure a better future for our children, noting that all faiths call for the need to protect children and to bring them up in a sound, caring environment. 

The Secretary-General’s comments came during the MCE’s participation in the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children 2022 Conference, co-organized by Arigato International and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome under the theme ‘World Day of Prayer and Action for Children 2022’. Judge Abdelsalam said there are millions of children suffering because of the ongoing wars, conflicts, and crises. These conditions have multiplied the numbers of refugees, displaced families, and the children on the move leaving their homes and communities, although they have done nothing wrong. 

Judge Abdelsalam explained that the Document on Human Fraternity, signed by His Eminence Professor Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, and His Holiness Pope Francis in Abu Dhabi, 2019, provides for the protection of children. 

The Document states: “The protection of the fundamental right of children to grow up in a family environment, to receive nutrition, education and support, is the duty of the family and society. Such duties must be guaranteed and protected so that they are not overlooked or denied to any child in any part of the world. All those practices that violate the dignity and rights of children must be denounced.” 

The Secretary-General praised all efforts undertaken to preserve children’s dignity, protecting them against all threats and challenges, and providing them with a sound, caring environment to grow up in, so they can play their role as future leaders of our world. 

He also applauded the continued endeavors spearheaded by the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence and the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities in the United Arab Emirates for rallying support and concern for the protection of children worldwide. He stressed the MCE’s profound concern for the welfare of children through several initiatives and programs to promote effective and positive communication with children. 

In his remarks, the Secretary-General called for launching a ‘common human call’ for saving millions of children worldwide from the appalling humanitarian conditions threatening their lives and futures. He urged creating a ‘global movement’ for the protection of children and their human dignity, based on the common ethical and religious responsibilities of all communities. All actors and concerned entities should be engaged to help enact new, binding laws to provide the comprehensive and efficient social protection of children and to find radical solutions for the problems that our children, who are future leaders, are facing.