Children’s rights reforms
The K-P government can start by taking immediate steps to reduce the Infant Mortality Rate
Children play with tyres in Islamabad, Pakistan. PHOTO: REUTERS
Almost 10 months have passed since the PTI won a second consecutive term in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). However, the incumbent provincial government does not seem eager to implement the reforms it had promised in its agenda at the time of the elections. This piece focuses on a few laws and policies related to children that require the urgent attention of the K-P Chief Minister and his government, and how their implementation will result in a clear improvement in the state of children’s rights and implementation of the government’s reforms agenda.
The K-P government can start by taking immediate steps to reduce the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in the province, by ensuring every child’s right to survival and health is fulfilled — as per the commitment made by the PM in his first televised address to the nation. Steps to ensure this should include the implementation of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Multi Sectoral Nutrition Strategy by making substantial budgetary allocation for it; and the K-P Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Act 2015 by calling on the K-P Infant Feeding Board to ensure its implementation.
According to Taj Muhammad Khan, Chairman of the K-P Assembly Standing Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education, 2.6 million children in the province are out of school. It took K-P seven years to ratify the K-P Right to Free and Compulsory Secondary Education Act 2017. Its implementation should be made a priority now and schools should be notified to step up their enrolment. Moreover, ever since Fata was merged with K-P, there is a large number of out of school children in the tribal districts, particularly girls. Special attention should be given to achieving gender parity in education. Likewise, K-P and ex-Fata have a large number of madrassas which need comprehensive reforms in order to bring them into the mainstream.
Child labour is common in K-P which is a major supplier of child labourers to other provinces. A recent report showed that a large number of children from Swat, Dir and Shangla are working in the coal mines of Shahrag, in Balochistan. The K-P government should take immediate steps to remove these children from the hazardous mines and rehabilitate them with their families. In order to resolve this issue, the K-P Education Act and the K-P Prevention of Child Labour Act 2015 need to be implemented. Furthermore, Child Domestic Labour (CDL) for children under 18 years of age should be notified under the schedule of banned occupations and processes of the 2015 Act.
Like the rest of the country, K-P also requires a robust Child Protection System to prevent child abuse. The K-P Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010 needs to be implemented and the provincial government should reorganise and conduct meetings of the Child Protection and Welfare Commission regularly. Budgetary allocations should be made for this purpose and Child Protection Units (CPUs) should be established across all districts, including the tribal areas. The Peshawar High Court took a commendable initiative to establish the first exclusive Juvenile Court in the province in accordance with the child protection act, as well as the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018. For its implementation, male and female probation officers need to be appointed across all districts and at least three borstal institutions need to be established in Peshawar, Bannu and Haripur along with Juvenile Courts.
Special attention of the K-P CM is required for strengthening the probation system in the province. This will help reduce the general prison population by almost half, consequently reducing the hefty expense of prisons. The activation of the Criminal Justice Coordination Committees (CJCCs) is critical and the district and sessions judges should give special attention to probation and parole.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2019.
The K-P government can start by taking immediate steps to reduce the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in the province, by ensuring every child’s right to survival and health is fulfilled — as per the commitment made by the PM in his first televised address to the nation. Steps to ensure this should include the implementation of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Multi Sectoral Nutrition Strategy by making substantial budgetary allocation for it; and the K-P Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Act 2015 by calling on the K-P Infant Feeding Board to ensure its implementation.
According to Taj Muhammad Khan, Chairman of the K-P Assembly Standing Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education, 2.6 million children in the province are out of school. It took K-P seven years to ratify the K-P Right to Free and Compulsory Secondary Education Act 2017. Its implementation should be made a priority now and schools should be notified to step up their enrolment. Moreover, ever since Fata was merged with K-P, there is a large number of out of school children in the tribal districts, particularly girls. Special attention should be given to achieving gender parity in education. Likewise, K-P and ex-Fata have a large number of madrassas which need comprehensive reforms in order to bring them into the mainstream.
Child labour is common in K-P which is a major supplier of child labourers to other provinces. A recent report showed that a large number of children from Swat, Dir and Shangla are working in the coal mines of Shahrag, in Balochistan. The K-P government should take immediate steps to remove these children from the hazardous mines and rehabilitate them with their families. In order to resolve this issue, the K-P Education Act and the K-P Prevention of Child Labour Act 2015 need to be implemented. Furthermore, Child Domestic Labour (CDL) for children under 18 years of age should be notified under the schedule of banned occupations and processes of the 2015 Act.
Like the rest of the country, K-P also requires a robust Child Protection System to prevent child abuse. The K-P Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010 needs to be implemented and the provincial government should reorganise and conduct meetings of the Child Protection and Welfare Commission regularly. Budgetary allocations should be made for this purpose and Child Protection Units (CPUs) should be established across all districts, including the tribal areas. The Peshawar High Court took a commendable initiative to establish the first exclusive Juvenile Court in the province in accordance with the child protection act, as well as the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018. For its implementation, male and female probation officers need to be appointed across all districts and at least three borstal institutions need to be established in Peshawar, Bannu and Haripur along with Juvenile Courts.
Special attention of the K-P CM is required for strengthening the probation system in the province. This will help reduce the general prison population by almost half, consequently reducing the hefty expense of prisons. The activation of the Criminal Justice Coordination Committees (CJCCs) is critical and the district and sessions judges should give special attention to probation and parole.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2019.