Advocacy campaign for child rights launched

The first-ever UN International Day of the Girl Child coincided with criminal violence against peace icon Malala Yousafzai and two other girls of her school in Mingora.

An advocacy campaign for child rights was launched on Thursday by the Ministry of Human Rights where once again pledges were made to better the life of our children by passage of new legislations coupled with implementation of existing child-friendly laws.

The main focus of the two-day event, that concluded Friday addressed violence against children. Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf chaired the closing session Speakers expressed their commitment to the cause and once again called for strategies that would ease children from the burden of poverty, hazardous labor, adolescent marriage and corporal punishment. Child right activists and policy makers are well aware that these instruments have been part of statute books for decades. A serious attempt to enact child-friendly legislations was made during the years leading to United Nations General Assembly Special Session on children in 2001, a process that was initiated by Pakistan in 1990 with the ratification of the CRC.

The events following 9/11 severely impacted on the child rights agenda. Priorities changed and pledges and promises for children were stalled for better times, both internationally and at home. Once again the children of our region bore the maximum brunt of a changing world order. Already without access to protection, education or healthcare, they were now exposed to extreme forms of violence unleashed by terrorists, the Taliban, armed sectarian outfits, state agencies and drone attacks. The most vulnerable among them were recruited as child soldiers and suicide bombers. The youngest suicide bomber as reported by the national media was as young as 7 years old.

Another suicide bomber was 9-year-old Sohana. She was kidnapped in June 2011 on her way to school by armed militants who compelled her to be a suicide bomber as reported on Geo TV. Luckily she was rescued from her captors. A research was conducted by Dr. Fareeha Paracha on 162 children recovered by the Pakistan Army from armed conflict zones. The study revealed that the underlying motivation to join a militant outfit was poverty and lack of earning opportunities.

Present in the conference were a number of children who have lost one or both parents. A sizeable number represented the conflict torn areas. Among the child delegates were Zainul Abedin 6, Murtaza Haider 5 and Abbas Haider 7, three brothers who lost both parents in a bomb explosion in Shalazai village, Para Chinar in early February. The boys were admitted to Sweet Home, a Baitul Maal supported facility for orphaned children.

Positive and promising messages for children’s unmet agenda echoed throughout the day. Senior child rights activists Shaheen Atiqur Rehman, Maneezeh Bano , Parveen Azam Khan, Zia Awan, and a few others who steered the CRC movement once again pledged to carry forward the crusade. “Hearing the children laugh is the best of all music,” said Shaheen and questioned why budgetary allocations for programs related to children remained at bare minimum levels and why there was no statutory body to protect and promote child rights.

The conference expressed an urgent need to implement laws and establish public private forums that cater to children’s protection and welfare. The responsibility of protection and development of children should not solely rest with the government, speakers held, but shared as a national aspiration.

During the past four years the National Assembly has passed 24 gender and child friendly laws. Quite an achievement. However public knowledge on the same laws followed by implementation measures in letter and spirit remains a much bigger challenge.

The Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 is viewed as one of the most effective law for children involved in criminal litigation. Section 4 of JJSO clearly states that all juvenile cases must be disposed of within four months. Yet thousands of children languish in prisons for petty crimes awaiting access to justice. According to data available on juvenile offenders the number of children in Adyala prison exceeds 360.

The same applies to Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Act 2010. The law makes it necessary for the government to prohibit corporal punishment in all types of educational institutions, formal and non formal, foster homes or alternative care settings. The Act is routinely violated by school teachers whose brutal aggression on students mostly goes unnoticed. Thursdays newspapers have reported a school teachers torture on Asma a first grader fracturing her left arm. The parents reported the torture incident to the police but despite the law that prohibits corporal punishment an FIR could not be lodged. ‘Chief guest for the opening session Faisal Karim Kundi advocated rigorous punishment for law violators.

With Pakistan grappling with governance challenges and security threats, mainstreaming the CRC will be a formidable task, but one that cannot be ignored any longer. Devolution under the 18th Amendment has presented a unique opportunity to align national laws and policies in line with the CRC commitment. One is optimistic that the best outcome of the two-day event could mark a beginning to liberate Pakistan’s children from becoming hostage to fear, violence and hate.

The child commission announced by the PM Friday evening is certainly a major step in this direction.

(2012-10-13/thenews)