The government’s ignorance on child rights

The Ministry of Human Rights organised an event in honour of Universal Children’s Day last month, with the minister for law and justice as the chief guest. “I confess that I know little about today’s subject”, were the words with which Pervaiz Rashid began his speech. He went on to state: “Unfortunately, we don’t speak much about child rights.” While pointing towards the standees in the hall, the minister said that children are abused in our society and child domestic labour is widespread and that most people sitting in the hall probably had a child working as a domestic servant in their homes. He went on to suggest that thousands of children could be assembled in a stadium, where through media coverage they could share their stories across the country, thus increasing awareness about their plight, and that society at large can ask these children for forgiveness.

Thank you, Mr Rashid, for confessing your ignorance on the issue of child rights and asking the children of Pakistan for forgiveness for this. It takes courage to acknowledge shortcomings while holding a position of high import and responsibility. However, your proposed action will not help these children in any way (it may give you some satisfaction though). You and your government need not assemble all children in stadiums and ask them for forgiveness as this will take a lot of time and resources because children who have been abused, malnourished, who don’t go to school and are involved in child labour or are married off at a young age number in the millions. There are also those who live in most difficult situations and areas like the tribal areas or who belong to religious minorities. You and your government should focus instead on fulfilling your commitments to the children of Pakistan made in your party’s manifesto, namely to increase overall expenditure on health to two per cent of the GDP, achieve a 100 per cent vaccination rate of children and ensure a 50 per cent reduction in maternal and infant mortality by 2018. You need to make sure that all national and international commitments related to child rights are prioritised for implementation.

A number of bills related to child rights have been pending in the National Assembly for years now. You should play your role in enacting the National Commission on the Rights of the Child Bill, the Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill, the Child Marriages Restraint Amendment Bill and the Criminal Laws Amendment (Child Protection) Bill, which has finally been passed by the National Assembly, but is still to be passed by the Senate. Similarly, there is no child protection system in place in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and legislation should be enacted to put in place a child protection system for the area. The National Child Protection Centre under your ministry requires legal status and financial resources to play a central role in the child protection system of Islamabad. In this regard, the enactment of the ICT Child Protection and Welfare Bill also requires your urgent attention.

The government needs to take solid steps for the implementation of existing laws, such as the ICT Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2012, the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 and the Employment of Children Act of 1991. We still see children roaming the streets and begging or working despite the fact that education for children between the ages of five and 16 years is a fundamental right under Article 25-A of the Constitution. The previous government enacted the ICT Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2012. The Act was also extended to Fata by the then president. You are requested to notify rules and make budgetary allocation for the effective implementation of the 2012 Act at the ICT level and in Fata.

Senator Rashid, you rightly mentioned the plight of child domestic workers in your speech. You now need to direct the Capital Administration and Development Division to notify child domestic labour under the schedule of banned occupations of the Employment of Children Act of 1991 and put an immediate ban on all government officials and parliamentarians from employing children as domestic servants. These steps will pave the way for some positive changes in the lives of children and will also put pressure on provincial governments to follow in the footprints of the federal government, prioritise child rights and take solid steps to improve child health, education and protection.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2015.

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