GENEVA: Pakistan on Monday appreciated the efforts by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to protect and promote human rights with its special focus on the rights of pilgrims and migrant workers under Saudi Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia is one of 14 states being reviewed by the UPR Working Group – a mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council – during its session from January 22 to February 2, 2024.
In his remarks during the UPR session, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Bilal Ahmad said that Pakistan appreciated Saudi Arabia’s efforts to protect and promote human rights as a major component of the strategic goals envisioned in Saudi Vision 2030, “especially in the areas of women’s empowerment and gender equality, rights of children, rights of pilgrims, rights to education and health care, and rights of migrant workers, among others.”
The envoy recommended Saudi Arabia to continue its great efforts to facilitate and host pilgrims undertaking visits to the two holy mosques for Hajj and Umrah and continue developing the Kingdom’s good practices regarding gender pay equality. Wishing Saudi Arabia success in the fourth review, he also recommended the Kingdom to continue best practices aimed at addressing the potential impact of economic reforms.
The UPR is a peer review of the human rights records of all 193 UN member states. Since its first meeting was held in April 2008, all 193 UN member states have been reviewed thrice. The first, second, and third UPR reviews of Saudi Arabia took place in February 2009, October 2013, and November 2018, respectively. –Agencies
