PAKISTAN: Campaigners urge government to enact pending bills

[29 January 2014] - 

 

The Child Right Movement (CRM) - a coalition of more than 100 civil society organisations working for the protection and promotion of child rights across Pakistan - are asking more people to get involved in their campaign urging the Pakistan government to establish the National Commission on the Rights of the Child and to finally enact the pending bills on child rights which the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child have repeatedly recommended to Pakistan. 

 

The CRM has realised that legislation on child rights issues has gained little attention by the parliament at the federal level despite several commitments at the national and international level by the consecutive governments. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, while considering Pakistan’s Periodic Reports in 2003 and 2009, repeatedly raised its concerns and recommended to enact pending legislation related to child right with no results so far. 

 

Legislation on child rights issues has not received due consideration and commitment by the policy makers over the years. One of the biggest reasons for this disparity is the absence of a National Commission on the Rights of Children (NCRC) to act as a central, independent and effective child rights body to ensure monitoring and implementation of the minimum child rights standards across the country; to respond to the child rights violation cases effectively in a timely manner; and to exercise pressure for filling legislative gaps. The Bill on the NCRC has been pending since 2001. 

 

The CRM is concerned that there are more than 20.5 million children out of school, and of these 10.2 million are engaged in child labour where they are exploited, abused, tortured and killed. The Global Slavery Index 2013 reveals millions of modern slave children in Pakistan. Unfortunately, crimes against children are increasing rapidly. 

 

Despite the fact that 2013 was declared as “The Year of the Rights of the Child” by the then Prime Minister on Universal Children’s Day (20th November 2012), no significant steps have been taken during the year for the promotion and protection of child rights at the policy and legislation level.