Addressing abuse: Child protection policy draft in final review stage

Provincial commission must be independent, says Child Rights Movement.

LAHORE:

A child protection policy, drafted by the Social Welfare Department, has been sent to the Planning and Development Department and will be vetted by the Law Department on Wednesday (today).

The drafting process has taken over two years, after the Social Welfare Department initiated work in 2011.

More than 2,600 cases of child sexual abuse in the Punjab were reported by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) last year.

“There was a need to formulate a system and framework to address the issue of child protection in a holistic way,” says Social Welfare Department Deputy Director Irshad Waheed.

Waheed, who has been closely associated with the drafting process, said there was a dire need for such a policy, especially since the subject of child protection had been devolved to the provincial level after the 18th Amendment.



“There hasn’t been a policy dedicated to child protection in the province so far,” he says.

Issues of child protection and welfare are currently managed by various departments. Waheed says that there is a need for coordinated efforts to develop specific guidelines. “Child protection is cross-cutting issue that involves the departments of education, health, social welfare, labour and the Child Protection Bureau,” says Waheed.

Spokesperson for Child Rights Movement, a collaboration of 23 NGOs, Iftikhar Mubarik says that specific incidents of child abuse might catch the government’s attention, but the issue itself has been largely ignored due to the lack of a legislative framework. “Without a policy or legal document holding citizens and departments responsible, such issues cannot be addressed effectively,” he says, “Heads will have to roll. You cannot expect the families of victims to sit by quietly while the government plays the silent spectator.”

He says there is a need to establish an independent commission to safeguard the rights of children.

This suggestion has been accommodated in the Child Protection Policy draft. The draft suggests establishing a provincial commission for children welfare and development as part of the institutional framework of a Child Protection System.

The commission would be a monitoring body that would ensure policy implementation, investigate cases of child rights violations and review and propose legislation pertaining to child rights.

The Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB) previously reviewed the draft and suggested that the commission be independent body that would not operate under any department.

CPWB Assistant Director Rao Khalil told The Express Tribune that the bureau had sent its comments and recommendations regarding the administrative structure of the commission proposed in the draft.

Khalil said the draft had suggested that the provincial commission be placed under the Social Welfare Department. “If the commission is placed under another department it will not be able to maintain an independent status as a monitoring body,” he said.

The CPWB is governed by the legislative framework of the Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act. However, the Child Protection Policy will provide a legislative framework for child protection and welfare. Khalil said that he was hopeful that the final draft would accommodate the recommendations forwarded by the bureau. “Incidents of child abuse have been on the rise in the province,” he said, “That is why it is necessary to have a clear policy in this regard.”

Khalil said the policy draft was in its final stages and would be approved in a few months.

Irshad Waheed of the Social Welfare Department declined to provide a timeframe for the policy’s approval.

Today (Wednesday), on the World Children’s Day, the CRM will forward its demands to the provincial government to take legislative action to ensure child protection from abuse, exploitation and violence.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2013.