The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) signed a technical co-operation memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Saudi Arabia, within the framework of enhancing institutional partnership and expanding areas of joint co-ordination on issues of protecting and promoting human rights, serving mutual interests, and consolidating the principles of justice, equality, and mutual respect between the two sides. The MoU was signed by Her Excellency the NHRC Chairperson Mariam bint Abdullah al-Attiyah, and President of the Saudi HRC Dr Hala bint Mazyad al-Tuwaijri. The MoU aims to develop mechanisms for technical work, exchange experiences, build the capacities of specialised personnel, and launch joint programmes and initiatives that contribute to supporting human rights culture and raising societal awareness, in addition to documenting regional co-operation in areas related to human rights. In this context, al-Attiyah said this step represents an extension of the NHRC’s approach in enhancing Gulf co-operation and exchanging best professional practices, emphasising that technical partnerships contribute to developing institutional performance, improving the quality of human rights services provided to the community, and supporting ongoing training and qualification paths for workers in the sector. She added that the MoU opens the way for wider co-ordination in implementing joint initiatives and exchanging knowledge and experiences, enhancing the protection of rights and freedoms, and raising legal and humanitarian awareness among various groups. She affirmed that the MoU reflects the Committee’s direction toward expanding its regional partnership network and building a more integrated human rights work system, noting that exchanging institutional experiences in the region provides real opportunities for developing policies and preventive and awareness programmes, enhancing responsiveness to emerging human rights issues, protecting rights and freedoms, and fostering a culture of respect for human dignity in society. The MoU also outlined several areas of co-operation, including joint work on building the capacities of personnel at both parties through specialised training programmes, exchanging studies, research, and projects, publishing their results for mutual benefit, raising societal awareness of human rights culture, organising reciprocal visits, seminars, lectures, and joint conferences, in addition to exchanging information, statistics, reports, and scientific publications, with attention to educating about the rights of persons with disabilities, children, women, and the elderly. The MoU emphasised the importance of aligning co-operation activities with the national legislations in force in both countries, ensuring the efficient implementation of joint initiatives and enhancing integration between the two institutions in various priority human rights files. Through this framework, both institutions seek to unify efforts in monitoring, awareness, and capacity building, and to benefit from the accumulated expertise of each party to develop institutional work tools and exchange specialised knowledge, contributing to building an advanced Gulf model in managing human rights issues. The MoU is scheduled to enter into force after completing the legal procedures in both countries, and it will continue for several renewable years, ensuring the sustainability of joint programmes and projects and achieving a long-term impact that positively reflects on enhancing and protecting rights and freedoms in both countries. In a related context, the NHRC chairperson met with Dr Muhammad al-Shalfan, director-general of the Judicial Training Center at the Ministry of Justice in Saudi Arabia and a member of the Saudi HRC Council, where they discussed prospects for co-operation in supporting the integration of human rights topics into training programmes for judicial practitioners.