KARACHI, Nov 23: Sindh Social Welfare department, in collaboration with Unicef, will develop a plan of action for protection of children, including those in five-year age group, in the province.

Unicef will also assist the Sindh government in establishing 10 drop-in centres for street children suffering from violence, abuse and exploitation. These decisions were taken at a joint meeting of the Sindh Social Welfare department and Unicef, Sindh, to review progress on five-year child protection and empowerment of adolescents programme in the province.

Syed Anwar Haider, Additional Chief Secretary, Social Welfare, welcomed Federal Social Welfare Minister Mr Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani, Mr Ronald Van Dijik, Deputy Representative, Unicef, Pakistan, Ms Raana syed, Chief Provincial Officer, Unicef, Sindh, and others.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Van Dijik, said that Unicef worked globally for the rights of children and women. In Pakistan, it had been supporting the government for more than five decades, and believed that decentralized planning and implementation was the key to effective social development, he added.

"While we address issues of survival and development through support to health and education interventions, protection and participation (issues) are addressed through the Child Protection and empowerment of adolescents programmes".

He observed that, children in jails, street children and those without family protection were especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. It was vitally important that special protection measures be taken for the protection of these children and that their situation be regularly monitored, he stressed.

Adolescents or older children have limited avenues for guidance and information, which makes them vulnerable to negative influences such as tobacco, drugs and diseases such as HIV/AIDS, he added.

He said it was important to train them (adolescents) in such skills through which they could protect themselves from negative influences, and participate in the social development process.

Mr Haider referring to a study conducted on children, said special protection measures and laws related to children in Sindh had been reviewed to identify the gaps and to recommend revisions. -PPI