Arab Meeting in Cairo to Complete Study on Draft Law Protecting Children from Recruitment in Conflicts

Cairo -- The sixth meeting of the joint committee of experts and representatives from the ministries of justice and interior and relevant authorities in Arab countries, chaired by Algeria, began today on Sunday to complete the study of the draft “Arab Model Law for the Protection of Children from Recruitment in Armed Conflicts.”

At the opening of the meeting, Maha Bakheet, Director of the Legal Affairs Department at the Arab League and Minister Plenipotentiary, stated that the draft law continues its preparatory stages in preparation for presenting the results of its discussions to the Arab Ministers of Justice Council at its upcoming session scheduled for November of this year.

Bakheet explained that the project was initiated following a proposal submitted by Algeria to prepare an Arab model law aimed at protecting children from recruitment in armed conflicts. She added that the proposal was presented to the 37th session of the Arab Ministers of Justice Council, which approved the preparation of the project before the Algerian Ministry of Justice took charge of drafting its preliminary version and circulated it to Arab countries for their comments.

Bakheet noted that the joint committee held a series of meetings to study the project, with the participation of experts and representatives from the ministries of justice and interior and relevant authorities in Arab countries. She confirmed that the fifth meeting of the committee, held in September 2025 at the Arab League headquarters, completed the first reading of the draft law, and the results of the meeting and comments received from member states were presented to the Executive Office of the Arab Ministers of Justice Council, which decided to continue studying the project and complete the discussion of its articles.

In the same context, Bakheet mentioned that the current meeting is held in implementation of the decision of the 41st session of the Arab Ministers of Justice Council and the decision of the 76th meeting of the Council’s Executive Office to convene another meeting of the joint committee to continue studying the project. She clarified that the meeting aims to complete the discussion of the draft law’s articles in light of the comments and proposals submitted by Arab countries, with a view to reaching a consensus formulation.

The results of the meeting are expected to be submitted to the upcoming session of the Arab Ministers of Justice Council in November for consideration of the committee’s work. (End) M.M. / N.B.S.