The Lebanese Ministry of Justice, together with the support from UNICEF and the European Union, joined in efforts to protect children’s rights in the Lebanon’s justice system.
Accordingly, UNICEF inaugurated, on Thursday, the first child-friendly hearing room in Saida to provide a safe and friendly atmosphere for all children involved in judicial proceedings.
The Palaces of Justice in Lebanon are currently adult-oriented, said UNICEF, adding that child-friendly facilities will now be available in the courthouses of Baabda, Beirut, Saida, Nabatieh, Tripoli, and Zahle.
During the inauguration, the Caretaker Minister of Justice, Judge Henry El-Khoury, expressed that the hearing rooms hold great importance in establishing a more integrated child-friendly justice system.
The opened facilities will help prevent and address all types of abuses, exploitations, and violence, as well as reduce the psychological trauma associated with their judicial involvement.
The establishment of those rooms will also protect children’s rights as such facilities will be coupled with the initiation of child-sensitive training, namely by juvenile judges, social workers, and law enforcement officers.
UNICEF will now continue to work towards preserving the child justice system, making it more accessible, and focusing on the rights of children.
