Protecting our children

Children of today are social capital of tomorrow, & Pakistan has done little to protect the generation that comes next

For a nation that professes to love children as much as Pakistan does, it does remarkably little in concrete terms to promote the rights of children. There is a patchwork of child-centric legislation that has come up over the years but no integrated or coordinated effort that takes a holistic view of children and their needs — and the duties of the state to protect them. That may be about to change. On November 10, it was announced that a National Commission for Children is to be set up. The new commission will hopefully increase the protection of children in the country. It will comprise “prominent” people, who have a track record of commitment to the rights of the child and human rights generally, as well as all provincial ombudsmen and child commissioners as ex-officio members. It is proposed that the commission monitors child rights violations and takes measures to protect children.

Thus far, Punjab is the only province to have specific child protection legislation and a well-established cadre of professional, trained social workers as child protection officers. Child protection resources are being developed in Punjab, but are woefully inadequate elsewhere. Whilst in broad terms, we welcome the new commission, it remains to be seen how effective it is once its terms of reference have been developed. There is no shortage of well-intentioned legislation on the statute books provincially and federally, but an almost universal failure to adequately enforce the law of the land — and not only in the matter of the protection of children. For the new commission to be effective, it needs teeth and political independence, with the mandate to call to account those who are derelict in their duty. That presents some significant challenges and such a move would fly in the face of established custom and practice. The children of today are the social capital of tomorrow, and Pakistan has done little to protect and adequately educate the generation that comes next. Any government can set up a commission, but making it work for the betterment of the child is another matter entirely.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2014.

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