This view was expressed by Society for the Protection for the Rights of the Child (SPARC) Abdullah Langah at the workshop called, Reporting Process and Implementation of CRC’, organised by Child Rights Movement at Regent Plaza hotel.
All laws pertaining to child rights should be set for 18 years, demanded the participants. Other recommendations such as free birth registration, a central database of children and a shelter home for those living on the streets were also discussed. The focus of the seminar, however, was to press the government to submit a ‘Rights of the Child’ report to United Nation’s (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Children as soon as possible. The government was supposed to submit the report to the UN in December but it failed to, they said.
Child Rights Movement provincial coordinator, Ghulam Madni, stressed that government should form a separate department which caters to child rights and their issues. “The government should have a plan of action for the future generation and vision on how it wants to see the future.”
Save the Children’s Iqbal Detho emphasised that the pending child rights laws should be passed by the provincial assembly. “Rules for Sindh Child Protection Authority Act 2011, Marriage Restrained Bill 2011 are some which are yet to be passed.”He said that after the 18th Amendment, the Sindh government now has the authority to make laws for children, but the government has not introduced any. He called for funds and budget allocation for addressing child rights issues.
The speakers also recommended that every child should have access to free and fair education. There should be a ban on corporal punishment, and strict implementation of the Juvenile Justice System, it was stressed.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2014.
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