HYDERABAD, April 24: A workshop that concluded here on Wednesday called for eliminating child labour, child abuse and corporal punishment.

The Provincial Commission for Child Welfare and Development (PCCWD) had the organized the three-day district-level workshop in collaboration with Unicef at a local hotel to prepare a plan of action to protect children’s rights.

The workshop said children should be provided with health, education and other necessary facilities and they should be protected against violence and economic and sexual exploitation.

It recommended a uniform education system, increase in teachers’s salaries, provision of technical education in addition to formal education, implementation of the compulsory primary education ordinance, establishment of a district education trust and provision of nutritious food for mother and child.

Promotion of birth registration and implementation of the Juvenile Justice Ordinance was also recommended by the workshop.

The workshop said awareness about AIDS should be created among children so that they could be protected against the disease.

Unicef project officer Manan Rana, Karachi Unicef project officer Shehla R. Din and PCCWD consultant Dr Ayesha Usman briefed the participants about recommendations made by different groups.

Mohammad Ibrahim Qureshi, EDO, community development, Apa Rehmat Kazi, district officer, education, Dr Ashfaq Ahmad Bhutto, Dr Nazia Naureen, Dr Anwar Leghari, Dr Nisar Memon and Abdul Ghaffar Sherwani presented their group findings at the workshop.

Speaking at the concluding session of the workshop, DCO Mukhtar Aziz announced that a branch of the PCCWD would be opened in Hyderabad.

He said an advisory committee, comprising representatives of government and non-governmental organizations, would be constituted to ensure proper implementation of the District Plan of Action for Child Welfare and Development. Before implementation of the plan, a survey would be conducted to know the present social status of children, he added.

He said children of rural areas would be given special attention as they were deprived of education and health facilities.

The DCO stressed the need for organizing such workshops at taluka level. Ms Shehla sought people’s participation in efforts to protect children’s rights.

Dr Ayesha appealed to the media to play their due role in creating awareness about children’s rights in the society.