Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Child rights agenda

Universal Children’s Day (UCD) was observed on November 20 with great show by the government and civil society across Pakistan. The Prime Minister declared 2013 as the year of child rights and made announcements about establishment of the National Commission on the Rights of Children and budgetary allocation for the Parliamentary Forum on Child Rights. These are good steps however; 2013 being declared as the year of child rights, I would like to put a few concrete recommendations for the current government to pursue in the last few months of its tenure and to be able to bring some positive changes in the arena of child rights in Pakistan.

On October 30, 2012 Pakistan’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was held at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. It’ll be great if the present government immediately accept all recommendation and particularly those related to child rights and chalk out a plan for the implementation of the UPR recommendations. Furthermore, Pakistan’s Periodic report being party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was due in 2012 however, it could not be submitted timely, neither were the recommendations on the last periodic report implemented properly. The government should prepare and submit the periodic report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and implement recommendations both by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and Human Rights Council including the recommendations related to legislation by passing all pending bills i.e. 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.

To respond to the issue of child domestic labour the government should immediately ban child domestic labour by notifying it under the schedule of banned occupations of the Employment of Children Act 1991. Furthermore, the government should notify rules of the recently enacted the ICT Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2012 and make budgetary allocation of ensuring its implementation in the Federal Capital. Similarly, the President should notify the Federally Administered Areas Right to Free and Compulsory Education Regulation and all the four provinces should enact the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bills on the pattern of national legislature.

The federal government and particularly the Parliamentary Forum for Child Right should help as well as push the provincial governments for investing in children and introducing laws in the remaining few months of the present Provincial Assemblies. It is regrettable that there was no child rights related legislation in some provinces in the tenure of current assemblies.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa introduced the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Borstal Institutions Act 2012 however; implementation of these laws and budgetary allocation for their proper implementation is still to be made. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Commission is doing an excellent job since its establishment following the enactment of the law in 2010 however; the provincial government should make sufficient budgetary allocation for the Commission to be able to establish Child Protection Units (currently CPUs have been established in 8 out of 25 districts) across all districts of the Province and work more effectively.

Punjab enacted the Punjab Employment of Children Amendment Act 2011, without any amendments in the federal Employment of Children Act 1991 though except changing the word Pakistan with Punjab and the word Federal with the word Provincial. The government of Punjab should ban Child Domestic Labour by notifying it under the schedule of banned occupations of the Employment of Children Amendment Act 2011. The Provincial Assembly should also enact the Punjab Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill. The government of Punjab should also establish an independent Provincial Commission on the Rights of Children through an Act of the Provincial Assembly to work for the promotion and protection of child rights in the province in light of our national and international obligations and make budgetary allocation for the implementation of all children related laws in the province.

Sindh introduced the Sindh Child Protection Authority Act 2011 however; implementation of the law and budgetary allocation is still awaited. The government of Sindh should immediately notify rules of the Sindh Child Protection Authority Act 2011; notify the Sindh Child Protection Authority and establish Child Protection Units at the local level in accordance with Section 16 of the law and this will not be possible without proper budgetary allocation for the implementation of the law.

Furthermore, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh should introduce the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Acts in light of Article 25 A of the Constitution whereby education has been made a fundamental right for every child of 5 to 16 years of age and make budgetary allocation for the effective implementation of this very important constitutional provision. Recently in a forum on Right to Education in Islamabad most of the provincial government representatives were presenting lack of financial resources particularly budget for building new school buildings as a major hurdle in the implementation of this constitutional provision. It is recommended that the provincial governments should think of various options including using the existing facilities i.e. school buildings, teachers efficiently to respond to the situation such as evening shifts. 

Unfortunately, Balochistan is the only province which has failed to introduce any child rights specific legislation since independence. It’s high time that the Provincial Assembly responds to its constitutional obligations and passes all pending bills related to child rights particularly the Balochistan Child Protection and Welfare Bill, the Balochistan Borstal Institutions Bill, the Balochistan Employment of Children Amendment Bill and the Balochistan Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill. The government of Balochistan should also make budgetary allocation for the implementation of these laws particularly in the areas of health, education and child protection.

The federal and provincial government with the support of the civil society, UN Agencies and donors should immediately begin planning for 2013; the year of child rights, and come up with plans and strategies for making 2013 truly a year of the rights the children of Pakistan. As recommended above, the federal and provincial legislature should pass all pending bills related to child rights and the respective governments should make budgetary allocations for the implementation of those laws. Furthermore, the federal government should ratify Optional Protocols to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and on the Communications Procedure. Similarly, the civil society, the UN and donors Agencies can support the federal and provincial governments not only in the initial implementation of children related plans and projects but also in creating widespread awareness about child rights and extending technical assistance in having in place the right laws, policies and strategies.

The writer is a child rights activist and tweets @amahmood72
 
Publised in Daily Dawn on December 10, 2012 http://dawn.com/2012/12/10/child-rights-agenda/

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