Universal Children’s Day: School children rally for child rights

LAHORE:

Dozens of school children held a protest demonstration on Thursday outside the Lahore Press Club, demanding their basic rights on the occasion of the Universal Children’s Day.

The day marks the signing of the United Nations’ convention on the Rights of the Child 25 years ago. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the UN General Assembly on November 20, 1989 and to date has been ratified by 194 countries, including Pakistan.

To commemorate the day, Rehel, an NGO working for child rights, organised the demonstration.

Aamer Ali, Rehel chairperson, said that it was unfortunate that the cases of child abuse and exploitations were on the rise. “The Thar disaster is one example of ignoring the children’s right to life. The government’s spending on health and education is quite low as compared to other South Asian countries. There is an immediate need to devise a child protection system in Pakistan,” Ali said.

Zai Ali Paul, the Rehel executive director, said that cases of sexual abuse and domestic labour continued unchecked in the country. “The provincial and federal governments are not concerned about child rights. We are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the UN convention. However, we are yet to legislate on the implementation mechanism for the constitutional right of providing free and compulsory education under Article 25-A,” Paul said.

Child rights activists Ahmar Majeed said that there was an immediate need for a uniform child protection policy. “Our juvenile justice system is not working as it should be. Children in conflict with law are still vulnerable,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2014.