On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Ambassador Moushira Khattab, Egypt's Minister of State for Family and Population, called for further enhancement in the transparency of places of detention and institutions for children. In her opening remarks to the participants of a workshop on judicial oversight of places of juvenile detention, she called for the entrusting of independent bodies with a sound inspection mandate. She underlined that such inspections contribute constructively to ensuring that institutions fulfill their mandate in rehabilitating and reintegrating children in conflict with the law into society.
The workshop, which took place on 9 - 10 November, was organized jointly by the Combating Violence Against Children Project, funded by USAID, the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) – Ministry of Family and Population and in cooperation with the APT. The workshop provided an opportunity for judges of juveniles, prosecutors and social experts to discuss their respective roles in overseeing deprivation of liberty. Also in attendance were two French experts from the Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature and Egyptian experts. The participants formulated recommendations on the strengthening of oversight mechanisms, which will be submitted to the Minister.