Child Rights: A neglected priority in Punjab

Child rights have never been a priority for any federal or provincial government in Pakistan and the current government of Punjab is no exception. There has been no major legislation enacted concerning child rights in Punjab in the past six years except the adoption of the Punjab Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition (Amendment) Act 2012 and the Punjab Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011 without any changes despite advocacy campaigns by the civil society to increase minimum age for entering into child labour in light of the newly inducted Article 25 A, which makes education a fundamental right for children from 5 to 16 years of age, in the constitution following 18^th Constitutional Amendment and notifying child domestic labour under the schedule of banned occupations of the Punjab Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011.

Furthermore, Pakistan has ratified the ILO Convention No. 138 concerning minimum age where minimum age for entering into employment is 15 years. Contrary to this there is no minimum age for entering into employment in Pakistan while the Employment of Children Act prohibits child labour in certain hazardous occupations for children below 14 years. In light of Article 25-A of the Constitution, child labour which hinders a child’s right to education is in violation of the constitution and thus requires the federal and provincial governments to raise minimum age for entering into employment to 16 years. The provincial assembly however, didn’t appreciate this constitutional provision while adopting the Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011.  

Punjab proved to be a hell for child domestic workers as media reported more than 50 cases of severe torture against child domestic workers including 29 cases of torture to death of child domestic workers starting from Shazia Masih’s tragic murder in January 2010. More than five cases of torture to death of child domestic workers have already been reported in 2014 from Lahore. Child domestic workers were tortured to death from across Punjab majority of them girls. This is high time that the provincial government, responding to the recommendations of the civil society, put child domestic labour under the schedule of banned occupations of the Punjab Employment of Children (Amendment) Act 2011.

Punjab was ahead of other provinces in the last decade by enacting legislation on child protection and constituting child protection and welfare bureaus for the destitute and neglected children. The scope of the Destitute and Neglected Children Act is limited to destitute and neglected children only as evident from its name and the law fails to put in place a comprehensive child protection system in the Province to respond to all child rights and protection issues including child marriages, corporal punishment, internal trafficking of children and child labour etc. As a result of little or no focus on child rights and child protection in the province, it remained a neglected area and no proper child protection system could be established in the province home to almost 50 per cent of the country’s children.

Following the 18^th Constitutional 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 (CRM) 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 during a workshop for members of the Punjab Assembly on Child Rights who was all for establishing the Punjab Commission on the Rights of the Child through an Act of the Punjab Assembly. She also spoke about her commitment to ensure that there is an endowment fund for children in Punjab where children in need are supported together with linking parents of such children with social safety nets.

Punjab is also home to approximately 6 million out of school children and require to take serious steps not only to legislate in accordance with Article 25-A of the Constitution whereby education has been made a fundamental right for children five to sixteen years of age but also respond to the poor conditions in government schools across the province. A Commission was notified to prepare a bill for the implementation of Article 25 A in the province through a consultative process which was a commendable step. The Commission successfully achieved the target and submitted a draft bill to the provincial government in October 2012. The Government of Punjab promulgated the Punjab Right to Free and Compulsory Education Ordinance 2014 and in June this Ordinance was extended for another three months. There is a need however, to fulfil this constitutional amendment immediately and enact an Act instead of extending the Ordinance after every three months besides allocation of sufficient financial resources to ensure its implementation.

Health is another area which requires serious attention of the government of Punjab. Nearly 40% of the province’s children under age 5 are nutritionally stunted (39.2%).  The prevalence of underweight children is 29.8%, while wasting prevalence is 13.7%. Micronutrient deficiencies in Punjab are serious. Vitamin A deficiency which jeopardizes the maintenance of primary functions including eyesight and seriously reduces immune function; leaving the body more susceptible to infection, affects 41.8% of women and 51.0% of children of the province.

The high levels of malnutrition are consistent with high rates of infant and maternal mortality. The infant mortality rate in Punjab is 74 per 1000 live births while the target for achieving MDG 4 is to reduce it to 40 per 1000 live births by December 2015. Similarly, the Under 5 mortality rate is 89 per 1000 live births while the MDG 4 target is to reduce it to 52 per 1000 live births. Maternal mortality in the province is 227 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, higher than that of India, Sri Lanka and Yemen.

Frontline health workers like Lady Health Workers (LHWs), Community Midwives (CMWs) and Vaccinators have a pivotal role to play in improving the above mentioned health indicators of the province however, following the 18^th Constitutional Amendment and devolution of vertical programmes like the Family Planning and Primary Health Care Programme, the situation is challenging and particularly with reference to LHWs. The LHWs were regularized by the previous federal government upon Supreme Courts intervention with a stringent condition however i.e. the posts that may become vacant as a result of resignation, losing jobs or otherwise shall stand abolished for the purpose of federal funding and new recruitment with effect from July 01, 2011 will be financed by the provincial governments. This condition resulted in decrease in the number of LHWs instead of increasing their numbers and in Punjab the number LHWs decreased from 49,000 to 47,300.

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 to the uncovered areas of the Province to progress towards improving its mother and child health indicators. Similarly, the Punjab governments should also take responsibility and start allocating resources for increase in the number of LHWs, CMWs and vaccinators in the to be able to reach out to 100% population and achieve mother and child health related targets.

The Punjab Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition (Amendment) Act 2012 was 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. Similarly, the Provincial Government should also approve the Draft Inter Sectoral Nutrition Strategy to respond to the issue of under nutrition in an integrated manner.

The writer is a child rights activist and development practitioner with a Masters in Human Rights from the London School of Economics (LSE) and tweets at @amahmood72

This article was published in Express Tribune http://tribune.com.pk/story/831752/child-rights-a-neglected-priority-in-punjab/