Young Voices: Investigating children’s complaints

PESHAWAR: From a large number of complaints registered with the Children Complaint Office (CCO) at the Federal Ombudsman by children and their parents, a majority were against federal and provincial education departments. The CCO received 143 complaints related to children in 2011 principally directed at the federal and provincial departments. Ombudsman advisor and CCO Head Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi said the CCO has received as many as 511 complaints related to children since its inauguration in September 2009. The office was set up by the present government in compliance of article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to register and track children’s complaints. Qureshi said that the CCO not only holds federal agencies accountable but is also undertaking capacity-building workshops in these institutions.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2012.