Child rights: A neglected priority in Punjab
There is a need to notify the rules immediately besides allocation of sufficient financial resources
The writer is a child rights activist and development practitioner with a Masters in Human Rights from the London School of Economics. He tweets @amahmood72
Child rights have never been a priority for any federal or provincial governments in Pakistan and the current government of Punjab is no exception. The recent deaths of newborns in Sargodha and Vehari have exposed the weak health system in the most developed province of Pakistan, which calls for urgent attention of policy and decision-makers.
Children’s right to health is an area that requires serious attention of the government of Punjab. The neonatal mortality rate is at high 63 per 1,000 live births in the province. Maternal mortality is 227 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, higher than that of India, Sri Lanka and Yemen. The high rates of neonatal and maternal mortality are consistent with the high levels of malnutrition in the province.
Frontline health workers like lady health workers (LHWs), community midwives and vaccinators have a pivotal role to play in improving the above-mentioned health indicators of the province. However, following the Eighteenth Amendment and devolution of vertical programmes like Family Planning and the Primary Health Care Programme, the situation is challenging, particularly with reference to the LHWs. The LHWs were regularised following a Supreme Court intervention. But the posts are becoming vacant owing to fast resignations. The government of Punjab should respond to the situation by recruiting more LHWs from its own resources and making budgetary allocations for necessary supplies to reach out to the uncovered areas of the province. Similarly, the Punjab government should also take responsibility and start allocating resources to increase the number of community midwives. To be able to ensure that every pregnant mother has access to a trained birth attendant while giving birth, Punjab will require an additional 15,000 midwives.
The Punjab Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition (Amendment) Act of 2012 has been enacted and recently, an Infant Feeding Board has been notified to ensure its implementation. The government of Punjab should immediately notify rules under the Breastfeeding Act of 2012 to ensure effective implementation of the law.
Following the Eighteenth Amendment in 2010, child rights have become a provincial subject. However, there is no body with a statutory status in Punjab to take care of this huge responsibility and ensure that child rights are protected and promoted in the province. The Child Rights Movement Punjab launched an advocacy campaign for establishing a Provincial Commission on the Rights of the Child (PCRC). It was heartening to listen to Ms Saba Sadiq, chairperson of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau, and Rana Sanaullah during a Universal Children’s Day function at Lahore where both assured the establishment of the Punjab Commission on the Rights of the Child through an act of the Punjab Assembly.
Punjab is also home to approximately six million out-of-school children and requires serious steps in accordance with Article 25-A of the Constitution whereby education has been made a fundamental right for children between five and 16 years of age. As a very positive development, the Punjab Assembly recently enacted the Punjab Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014. There is a need, however, to notify the rules immediately besides allocation of sufficient financial resources to ensure its effective implementation immediately and to improve the poor conditions in government schools across the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2015.
Children’s right to health is an area that requires serious attention of the government of Punjab. The neonatal mortality rate is at high 63 per 1,000 live births in the province. Maternal mortality is 227 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, higher than that of India, Sri Lanka and Yemen. The high rates of neonatal and maternal mortality are consistent with the high levels of malnutrition in the province.
Frontline health workers like lady health workers (LHWs), community midwives and vaccinators have a pivotal role to play in improving the above-mentioned health indicators of the province. However, following the Eighteenth Amendment and devolution of vertical programmes like Family Planning and the Primary Health Care Programme, the situation is challenging, particularly with reference to the LHWs. The LHWs were regularised following a Supreme Court intervention. But the posts are becoming vacant owing to fast resignations. The government of Punjab should respond to the situation by recruiting more LHWs from its own resources and making budgetary allocations for necessary supplies to reach out to the uncovered areas of the province. Similarly, the Punjab government should also take responsibility and start allocating resources to increase the number of community midwives. To be able to ensure that every pregnant mother has access to a trained birth attendant while giving birth, Punjab will require an additional 15,000 midwives.
The Punjab Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition (Amendment) Act of 2012 has been enacted and recently, an Infant Feeding Board has been notified to ensure its implementation. The government of Punjab should immediately notify rules under the Breastfeeding Act of 2012 to ensure effective implementation of the law.
Following the Eighteenth Amendment in 2010, child rights have become a provincial subject. However, there is no body with a statutory status in Punjab to take care of this huge responsibility and ensure that child rights are protected and promoted in the province. The Child Rights Movement Punjab launched an advocacy campaign for establishing a Provincial Commission on the Rights of the Child (PCRC). It was heartening to listen to Ms Saba Sadiq, chairperson of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau, and Rana Sanaullah during a Universal Children’s Day function at Lahore where both assured the establishment of the Punjab Commission on the Rights of the Child through an act of the Punjab Assembly.
Punjab is also home to approximately six million out-of-school children and requires serious steps in accordance with Article 25-A of the Constitution whereby education has been made a fundamental right for children between five and 16 years of age. As a very positive development, the Punjab Assembly recently enacted the Punjab Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014. There is a need, however, to notify the rules immediately besides allocation of sufficient financial resources to ensure its effective implementation immediately and to improve the poor conditions in government schools across the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2015.