UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights’ Visit to Saudi Arabia

From 8 to 19 January, United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, will undertake an official visit to Saudi Arabia to examine Saudi Government’s efforts to combat poverty. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur will focus on the ways in which poverty and extreme poverty are defined and measured in Saudi Arabia, the availability of information about the challenges of poverty and the ways in which Saudi Arabia’s social protection system protects the poor. The Saudi government discloses little official information about the manifestations of poverty inside the kingdom, making the Special Rapporteur’s visit especially vital. The Special Rapporteur will submit its final report will to the Human Rights Council in June 2017. In light of the Special Rapporteur’s visit American’s for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain compiled an overview on what we know about poverty in the Kingdom.