About the Monitoring and Protection Center
It is the first observatory for the protection and advocacy of children’s rights in Yemen. In mid-December 2008, the Monitoring and Advocacy Unit was established to monitor violations and crimes against children and support the efforts of their families to obtain justice and reduce the impunity of criminals.
The development of monitoring and protection mechanisms and policies has continued since the establishment of the Monitoring Unit in late 2008. In 2012, the services of the Monitoring Unit were developed and transformed into a subsidiary of the organization under the name Monitoring and Protection Center to cover all governorates of the Republic of Yemen.
In 2018, the center’s mobile services were launched to enable various groups of society to aid in child protection by reporting and requesting protection easily and safely through a WhatsApp message (771400009), or by filling out the notification form on the electronic website.
Since 2009, Seyaj’s strategic partnership with UNICEF, the European Union Mission in Yemen, Save the Children, and the Yemeni Bar Association has contributed to a quantum leap in developing and strengthening its capabilities in monitoring, documentation, judicial aid, and advocacy following the standards and ethics of human rights work.
The center consists of the following main sections: Verification, Monitoring, and Documentation – Legal Protection – Advocacy and Lobbying – Automated System – Research and Studies.
The center serves children with primary personnel and a network of trained volunteers, the majority of whom belong to groups and specialties dealing with child concerns (lawyers, media professionals, educators, policemen, clerics, and influential tribal figures).
Seyaj works to protect and advocate for child victims of serious criminal offenses, exploitation, and abuse by the family and society, such as:
- Murder;
- Sexual violence in all its forms;
- Child smuggling and trafficking;
- Human organ trade;
- Torture and ill-treatment;
- Abduction and enforced disappearance;
- The execution of minors;
- Marriage of young girls.
Since its inception, Seyaj has been working to monitor and document violations and crimes against children’s rights in armed conflicts. The organization has developed its policies and work mechanisms to comply with United Nations treaties and standards, the most prominent of which include the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols, and UN Security Council Resolution No. 1612 of 2005 AD, which identified the following violations:
- Killing and maiming of children;
- Recruitment or use of children as soldiers;
- Sexual violence against children;
- Abduction of children;
- Attacks against schools or hospitals;
- Denial of humanitarian access for children.