Rights of children

Letter July 23, 2014
Now is the time to recognise human dignity and worth of girl child and to ensure full dispensation of her human rights

ISLAMABAD: It is an undeniable truth that the girl child of today is the woman of tomorrow. But whenever I have the opportunity to visit my home province of Sindh, I find girls in inhuman conditions. They have less access to nutrition, physical and mental health care and education and enjoy fewer rights, opportunities and benefits of childhood and adolescence. They are often subjected to various forms of exploitation, paedophilia, forced prostitution and the rampant sale of their organs and early marriages.

Regrettably, nothing is being done for the rights of children in the rural areas. Rulers are requested to launch such programmes and projects in collaboration with international partners such as Unicef, Unesco, USAID, JICA, etc., in order to ensure their development and growth in every sphere of life. Now is the time to recognise that human dignity and the worth of the girl child and to ensure the full dispensation of her human rights and fundamental freedoms. This includes the rights assured by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the universal ratification of which is strongly urged.

Hashim Abro

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23rd, 2014.

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