How
many of us know that there was a National Plan of Action for Children that was
adopted in 2006; that there is no independent National Commission on the Rights
of Children; that 352,000 children in Pakistan die before their fifth birthday;
that 45 per cent of children are malnourished; that there is a need to protect
children belonging to marginalised groups from violence, forced marriages and
forced conversions; that the Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill is still
pending; that the minimum legal age for criminal responsibility is still only
seven years; that the minimum age of marriage for girls is still 16 (except in
Sindh); that no specific programmes have been initiated for children with
disabilities to enable them to enjoy their rights and to prevent their
marginalisation and abandonment.
We all know that budgetary allocation for children is
still a mere six per cent of GDP. Pakistan has the highest bottle-feeding and
lowest exclusive breastfeeding for six months rates in South Asia. No child
labour survey has been conducted since 1996 and no specific measures have been
taken to combat the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
There is still denial regarding the perpetration of child sexual abuse despite scandals like Kasur surfacing.
These
are just a few of the issues included in a list prepared by the UN Committee on
the Rights of the Child, which was drawn up between October 5-9. The Committee
has requested the government for written replies vis-a-vis this list before
March 1, 2016. This is part of the scrutiny of the states that are a party to
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). They are required to
submit periodic reports focusing on the implementation of the Convention every
five years. The government submitted its fifth periodic report to the UN
Committee on May 23, 2015, which was actually due on December 11, 2012. The
Pakistani civil society was also invited to submit alternative reports by June
30, 2015 and many organisations submitted their various alternative reports. A
plenary session is due to be held between May 17 and June 3, 2016 where the
government will be scrutinised for the state of child rights in Pakistan by the
Committee. Following the plenary session, the Committee will adopt concluding
observations and recommendations for the government and other stakeholders to
follow.
Having
a look at the government’s report, as well as the alternative reports submitted
by the civil society, one realises that Pakistan is still far from achieving
any significant milestones in making rights enshrined in the UNCRC a reality
for the children of the country. The federal and provincial governments must
immediately address the issues that have been raised. All pending bills related
to children must be enacted, including the National Commission on the Rights of
the Child Bill, the Child Protection (Criminal Laws) Amendment Bill, the Child
Marriages Restraint (Amendment) Bill and the Prohibition of Corporal Punishment
Bill.
At the
provincial level, Sindh needs to ensure implementation of the Sindh
Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy, the Sindh Protection and Promotion of
Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Act 2013, the Sindh Right to Free and
Compulsory Education 2013 and the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act 2014.
Notification of rules of business and budgetary allocations with robust
monitoring systems should be put in place immediately in accordance with the
UNCRC. The Punjab Commission on the Rights of the Child Bill must also be
enacted and an independent commission should be established for the protection
of child rights. Punjab should also enact comprehensive child protection
legislation as the current Destitute and Neglected Children Act 2007 is limited
in scope. Similarly, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) should immediately enact the K-P
Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill and the K-P Child Marriages
Restraint Bill. K-P should make sufficient budgetary allocation for the
implementation of the K-P Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010, to establish a
child protection system in the province. It should also implement the K-P
Borstal Institutions Act 2012 and establish such institutions for juvenile
inmates in Bannu, Peshawar and Haripur. Balochistan needs to enact the
long-awaited Balochistan Child Protection and Welfare Bill and the Balochistan
Child Marriages Restraint Bill.
I hope
that by June 2016, when the concluding observations and recommendations will be
adopted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on Pakistan’s fifth
periodic report, the National Commission on the Rights of the Child Bill would
have been enacted and that a commission would have been established to ensure
effective implementation of the concluding observations and recommendations of
the Committee. This could play a huge role in improving the state of child
rights in Pakistan.
No comments:
Post a Comment