The government needs to set up an independent Provincial Commission on the Rights of Children child rights activists, civil society members and legislators agreed on Tuesday.
They said the commission must have the powers to investigate cases of abuse and violence against children and monitor the implementation of Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
The consultation was organised by the Child Rights Movement (CRM), a non-profit organisation.
The participants also asked the government to speed up the process to enact legislation to protect the rights of children. They said the CRC Geneva had recommended in 2009 that Pakistan should establish an “independent monitoring structure with a mandate to regularly evaluate progress in the implementation of the Convention.”
The proposed draft said such a commission should act as a focal point for the supervision and coordination of matters related to children’s rights with variousdepartments. It said such a commission should also collect data on the situation of children and children. It said there was a need to incorporate children’s rights in the school curricula. It said such a commission would provide children an effective means of redress when their rights were violated.
Speaking on the occasion, former member of the National Assembly Mehnaz Rafi said that the proposed commission should be independent of the control of government departments. She said politicians should not be its members.
Arshad Mahmood, a child rights activist, said the proposed law had already been drafted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Punjab government could consult it. He said child rights was now a provincial subject.
Youth Affairs Secretary Haroon Ahmad Khan said the department was ready to support those working for the rights of children.
Social Welfare Department Director General Muhammad Aslam said a resolution on Child Protection Policy had been passed by the provincial assembly.
MPAs Dr Samia Amjad and Amna Ulfat said they would table the proposed draft in the Punjab Assembly and support for an independent child rights commission in the Punjab.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2012.
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