International humanitarian law (IHL) studies will be made mandatory for those who enroll in the UAE National service, as well as in schools and universities, a top government official has said.
The move is part of the 2019-2020 action plan of the National Committee of International Humanitarian Law to promote awareness and knowledge about humanitarian law in various sectors of society, Mohammed Al Kamali, deputy head of the committee, told Khaleej Times.
"Military service is compulsory in the country. It is going to be part of their (National Service) curriculum as well," said the official.
The committee is planning introductory courses on IHL and the role of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the armed conflict zone for those enlisted in the national service.
"We are trying to insert the IHL into the school and university curriculum, so that every student in the country gets a chance to study and understand the law," said Kamali.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a Press conference to announce the committee's action plan, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on Wednesday.
The official said discussions are under way with the Ministry of Education.
Ahmed Abdulrahman Al Jarman, assistant minister for human rights and international law and chairman of the committee, said the IHL was included in the study plan of the Faculty of Law at the University of the Emirates as of the academic year 2014-2015. "This was also included in the curriculum of the colleges and institutes of the armed forces and the security forces."
"As part of the committee's efforts to raise awareness, many introductory seminars on IHL and governance were held for students. Specialised seminars were also held for public prosecutors, in cooperation with the Institute for Judicial Training and Studies and in partnership with the ICRC.
"Training courses for members of the armed forces on the provisions of humanitarian law were also held, as well as lectures for its members and students of police colleges," Al Jarman said, summing up the initiatives that the committee had undertaken at the academic level.
In the year 2019-2020, the committee aims to conduct seminars for military schools, visit other schools and train the trainers on the provisions of IHL.
The committee will pursue the inclusion of IHL as an independent subject in law and politics undergraduate courses. It also seeks to establish a post-graduate IHL diploma in the country.
The UAE's commission on IHL is considered the first national committee in the GCC. The Arab region as a whole has so far established 17 national committees.
The commission's members include representatives of 10 different national authorities, which are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Federal National Council, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, the General Command of the Armed Forces, the Department of State Security, United Arab Emirates University, the Institute of Training and Judicial Studies, and the Emirates Red Crescent.
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