UAE calls for review of international plans for protection of civilians

Escalating conflicts are leaving devastating effects on civilians, especially women and children, from killings and injuries to disability and homelessness to forced abandonment of lands and properties, a UAE top MP has said.Deputy Speaker of UAE Federal National Council (FNC) Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi told the 18th Meeting of Women Parliamentarians on the sidelines of the 128th IPU assembly that as conflicts in 2011 forced 26.5 million people to flee their homes and killings were on the rise.This situation, she stressed, called for doubling international efforts to protect the civilian population.She added that this responsibility should be jointly shared by governments and parliaments.She also called for reconsidering international plans and resolutions for protecting civilians after the failure of the UN to provide protection to civilians during armed conflicts.The UN Security Council, she noted, has failed to address the Syrian crisis and the humanitarian tragedy it has left behind as well as other conflicts in Africa.She said that the UN Security Council's inability in this respect calls for a reform in its membership. She called on the IPU to enhance its role in this respect by setting up a technical work team to achieve mediation and reconciliation between warring parties.Al Qubaisi also referred to the tremendous efforts the UAE is making to protect civilians and deliver humanitarian assistance.