Middle East Forum for Development affirms that human rights, as articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Social and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, are universal, interdependent and indivisible. We seek to protect and promote the rights of all citizens of the world, regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, or political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. The organisation will focus on addressing grave human rights abuses in the Middle East.
The three primary areas of concern of the organisation are:
Freedom: the right to life, liberty and security for all human beings can only be guaranteed when people are free and equal rights of all men and women are endorsed in the Middle East. Unfortunately, we still witness too many human rights violations in the Middle East where people are subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment because of their ethnicity, gender, religion, thoughts or conscience.
Justice: equality of all people before the law without any discrimination to equal protection of the law is essential. Regrettably, in today’s Middle East, we still witness arbitrary arrest, detention and exile and cases in which the right of people to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal have been breached. Individuals should be presumed innocent until proven guilty and should have all the guarantees necessary for their defence when criminal charges are raised against them.
International Development: human rights also entails the development of greater quality of life for human beings. The Middle East is known to be rich in natural resources and yet healthcare, education, gender equality, infrastructure, economic systems, disaster preparation and environmental policies are poorly developed, while poverty dominates the scene in many countries.
Middle East Forum for Development will carry out the following activities at the local, national and international level in order to achieve its objectives:
Maintain working relations with international organisations such as the United Nations and the European Union to raise human rights issues in the Middle East
- Stimulate research and policy.
- Organise seminars and conferences to inform the public about human rights abuses in the Middle East.
- Liaise with policy makers in order to promote policy changes.
- Implement social media strategies to promote the exchange of information
- Build coalitions with other non-governmental organisations and international partners in order to achieve the goals of the organisation.