http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=107194&d=26&m=2&y=2008&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
Tuesday 26 February 2008 (19 Safar 1429)
Shoura Endorses ILO Proposal for Gender Equality
Arab News -
RIYADH, 26 February 2008 - The Shoura Council has endorsed a proposal by
the International Labor Organization (ILO) providing absolute equality among
men and women, Al-Watan newspaper reported yesterday.
The Shoura also endorsed the Arab Human Rights Charter as well as the
national strategy for biological diversity, which was presented by the Health &
Environmental Affairs Committee.
The Arabic daily said there was heated discussion among the Shoura
members on the ILO proposal that calls for absolute equality among men and
women. The Arab Human Rights Charter was also a subject of heated debate, it
added.
The Shoura voted on the charter after Dr. Ibrahim Al-Ibrahim, chairman of
the Committee for Islamic, Judicial and Human Rights Affairs, read his panel's
answer to the queries of members on the charter, but without reading its
articles.
Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan, a leading Islamic scholar and a member of
the Shoura, had earlier ruled out the consultative body making any changes to
the charter. He told Al-Watan that he had no reservations on any of the
charter's 53 articles.
The Shoura, which was chaired by Dr. Saleh Bin-Humaid, endorsed the
resolution No. 198 of the ILO conference that regulates the relation between
the employer and the employee.
During the debate on the resolution, some members had called for the
removal of Paragraph B of Article 6 that demanded absolute equality between men
and women in the Kingdom's constitution, laws and regulations.
The article rejects any discrimination against women.
The Shoura has begun its discussion on another law related to legal
residents, which was presented by the Economic and Energy Affairs Committee.
The council will continue to discuss the 44-article law in the coming
sessions. Some members of the Shoura, according to Al-Watan, consider the law
as unclear, adding that it focused on real estate.
Also yesterday, the Shoura Council urged the Ministry of Education to
present a complete picture about King Abdullah project for the development of
general education including the ongoing efforts to develop curricula.
"The Ministry of Education should stick to the policy that the medium of
instruction at all academic levels will be Arabic and its experiment of
teaching in foreign languages will be limited to science, mathematics and
computer science," the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting a Shoura statement.
The experiment should be applied in selected secondary schools, the
Shoura said, adding that it would be reviewed by an independent panel.
After discussing a report from the General Bureau of Supervision (GBS),
the Shoura said the GBS should make sure that government departments follow
budgetary regulations. It was also asked to inspect investments of the General
Organization for Social Insurance, Pension Fund, Public Investment Fund and
other public organizations inside and outside the Kingdom.
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