This is of special significance since the Prime Minister of Pakistan declared 2013 as the year of child rights on the occasion of Universal Children's Day on November 20, 2012.
"Child Protection" refers to actions undertaken to prevent, respond, mitigate and curb acts of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect to protect children who suffered or are suffering or are at risk of suffering significant harm, such as corporal punishment, sexual abuse, physical torture, trafficking etc.
In the conference experts highlighted some of the existing good practices, discussed the gaps in the laws, and how children can be protected from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect with the help of the existing laws, policies, plans, international standards, and institutions. The conference was well attended by stakeholders from all provinces including social welfare, judiciary, human rights, child protection centres, civil society organisations and national coalitions on child rights.
Save the Children is working in Pakistan for over 30 years and has served Pakistani children and families through relief and long-term development programmes. Working with governments, international organisations, and local community partners, Save the Children strives to create lasting change with improvements in policy and services that protect children. Last year Save the Children reached over 7 million children and their family members in Pakistan investing more than US $105 million.
The conference was formally launched with the opening remarks of Save the Children's Deputy Country Director Ghulam Qadri. He said today we are seeing increased incidence of violence against children, their forced engagement in terrorist acts, very little percentage drop in children out of school, many children dying because of preventable causes, increased incidence of child poverty and very high percentage of child malnutrition and so on.
He emphasised the need for the civil society and the government to work together to make 2013 as a year to realize child rights as declared by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. The participants of the conference from all over Pakistan including representatives for different government departments, national and international civil society organisations and UN debated on formulating the best possible safety measures to protect children against all types of harm and abuse. Panellists proposed to develop a national strategy, a sound legal framework and child friendly judicial system, targeted policies and planning, trained officials, research and public awareness to be able to prevent violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect, identify children in need of protection and offer a comprehensive referral system including reporting, care and rehabilitation services.
Iqbal Detho, National Manager, SPARC suggested that Pakistan's periodic report the country being party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was due in 2012. However, it could not be submitted on time while the recommendations on the last periodic report were also not implemented properly. He proposed that the government should pass all pending bills, including the Criminal Law Amendment (Child Protection) Bill 2009, the National Commission on the Rights of Children Bill 2009, the Charter of Child Rights Bill 2009, the Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill and the Child Marriages Restraint Amendment Bill.
Zaheer ud Din, Registrar, High Court Balochistan informed participants that provision of immediate justice to its people is the primary responsibility of the state and judiciary. Pakistan judiciary has been more conscious to the issues of good governance and child rights. However the major responsibility is on the policy makers, because Balochistan has so far failed in introducing legal reforms for protection of children in the province.
Farhat Ali Mir, Secretary of Planning & Development, Azad Jammu & Kashmir acknowledged the work undertaken by civil society organisations in promoting and protecting rights of children. The AJK government has set up Child Protection Units to provide integrated services for marginalized and vulnerable children. The government has developed a good formal referral system however child protection system needs to be strengthened.
Qindeel Shujaat, Executive Director of Child Rights Legal Centre said that one of the most positive aspects of AJK, as compared to others areas of Pakistan, is its emphasis on education. The overall allocation for education is satisfactory, and this has helped to improve other social indicators such as child labour, gender parity, health care, violence against children.
The key note was delivered by Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi, Head Children's Complaint Office on the Importance of Ombudsman System for Child Protection in Pakistan. He shared that the Wafaqi Mohtasib of Pakistan established a Children's Complaint Office (CCO) in 2009 in the Wafaqi Mohtasib's (Ombudsman) Secretariat.
The CCO provides a dedicated mechanism for receiving and resolving complaints from and about children against maladministration of government agencies. The CCO is making significant efforts to promote the rights of children, in addition to their primary role of examining and investigating children's complaints. These include: authentic research on child right, training of government agencies, Provincial Ombudsman Officers and civil society; social mobilisation and co-ordination with provinces; conducting research to expand the knowledge-base on child rights, and monitoring implementation of the National Policy and Plan of Action on Children, 2006.