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What is the League of
Arab States?

The League of Arab States, or Arab League, is a voluntary association of countries whose peoples are mainly Arabic speaking.

The League was founded in Cairo in 1945 by Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan (Jordan from 1950), and Yemen.

Countries that later joined are: Algeria (1962), Bahrain (1971), Comoros (1993), Djibouti (1977), Kuwait (1961), Libya (1953), Mauritania (1973), Morocco (1958), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971), Somalia (1974), Southern Yemen (1967), Sudan (1956), Tunisia (1958), and the United Arab Emirates (1971). Palestine is also a member.

To read the League charter, visit: http://www.middleeastnews.com/arabLeagueCharter.html

The main goal of the League, as described in the charter, is to: "draw closer the relations between member States and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries."

 

What does it have to do with child rights?

In 1992, the First Arab High Level Conference on Children convened in Tunis and adopted a set of global goals for the year 2000. The build-up to the United Nations Special Session on Children, which convened in 2002, offered an opportunity to build on these initial discussions.


In preparation for the region's participation in the Special Session, the League of Arab States invited members in June 2000 to undertake national reviews of the situation of children and to participate in preparations for the special session.

The Arab High Level Conference on the Rights of the Child took place from July 1 to 4, 2001 in Cairo and concluded with the adoption of a draft declaration and framework for action on the rights of children for the period 2001-2010. This was called 'An Arab World Fit for Children: Mechanisms for Joint Arab Action and an Arab Common Position'. The meeting brought together some 150 delegates from all 22 member countries of the League of Arab States at the League's headquarters. The delegations, mostly led by ministers, also included civil society representatives, experts, and 33 young people, who convened separately to prepare for the meeting.

The Beirut Summit (March, 2003) adopted the “Arab World Fit for Children” declaration which had been issued by the Second Arab High Level Conference on the Rights of the Child in Cairo. This mirrored the ‘World Fit for Children’ outcome document of the UN Special Session on Children (link)


More recently, the Arab Summit in Tunis (March, 2004) issued a Plan of Action 2004-15 which identifies strategies for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and improving the situation of children in the region. Read the Final Report, Recommendations and Resolutions, The Tunis Declaration, Youths Statement

 

Other events which have taken place include the First Arab Media Forum on the Rights of the Child and Media, which took place in Dubai, from 6 to 9 December 2004.

How does it work?

The League is composed of a:

• Council

  
  Included in the Council’s subsidiary bodies are the: Arab Women's Committee, Human Rights Committee, Cultural Committee, Health Committee and the Organisation of Youth Welfare

According to the provisions of the Charter, the Council of the League is the ‘supreme authority’ within the League system.


The Charter defines the formation, competence, and rules of procedure and voting of the Council. It is made up of the representatives of Member States, usually at the level of foreign ministers, their representatives or permanent delegates.


The Council is mainly concerned with putting into practice the objectives of the League and implementing the plans and programmes drawn up by Member States.

In addition, the Council can decide on applications for membership and accept withdrawals from the League. It can also consider the introduction of amendments to the Charter.

The Council is also mediates in disputes between two Member States, or a Member State and a third party.

The Council meets twice a year, in March and September in regular sessions and may convene in extraordinary sessions if need be and upon the request of two or more of the Member States.


Read the internal regulations of the Council.

• General Secretariat

The internal regulations of the Secretariat provide that: “The Secretary-General shall, in the name of the League, implement the resolutions of the Council and shall take the financial measures within the limits of the budget approved by the Council. He shall also, in his capacity as Secretary-General of the League, attend the meetings of the Council of the League and of the Committees, and shall perform such other duties as may be entrusted to him by these bodies.”

Departments include the Conference Secretariat, the Finance and Administrative Department, the Political Department and the Economic, and Communication Affairs Department.

• Other subsidiary bodies of the League include the Defence and Economic Cooperation Bodies, the Arab Deterrent Force and the Arab Labour Organisation.

More information

League of Arab States
Tahrir Square, CP 11642
Cairo, Egypt
Tel: +202 5752966, 202 5750511
Fax: +202 5740331

Visit the Website of the League of Arab States (Arabic only):  http://arableagueonline.org/

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