June 30, 2006	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 3, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, June 29: Federal Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education Zobaida Jalal on Thursday said the government had planned to establish Child Protection Bureaus for safety and welfare of children.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the centre for missing children, she said first bureau of such kind would be operational in the federal capital within three months. Later on, these bureaus would be set up in every district to look after children and work for their welfare.

She said that about 200 children smuggled to the UAE for jockeying had been brought back and reunited with their families. Agreement had also been signed with the UAE government according to which the latter would take steps to reduce jockeying business, she said. Most of these children were from Rahimyar Khan, she added.

The centre for missing children was set up by lawyers for human rights and legal aid.

She said Pakistan was one of the countries that had taken initiative for UN Convention on the rights of the child. “Our constitution stresses the need of providing opportunities to children to achieve their full potential, but we need to mobilise adequate resources and create the proper institutional system for implementation of the action plans across multiple sectors,” she said.

Giving details, she said initiatives had been taken in the areas of education, child nutrition and health, child labour, rehabilitation of special children, child trafficking, orphans and street children and other vulnerable groups.

The federal minister said the government was fully cognizant of the situation of children in the country and had taken a number of initiatives in many development and protection areas for children including education, health and juvenile justice.

According to her, the compulsory primary education act, Juvenile Justice Ordinance, Poverty Reduction Programmes, Ratification of ILO 182 Convention and National Policy for Disabled Persons are reflective of the sincere efforts in addressing the issues of children in Pakistan.

She said that it was the duty of every adult to create an environment in which children could grow and thrive without fear for their security. “We see the dangers to our children in the cases of abduction.

Each year, tens of thousands of children are abducted by non-family members. We see the dangers in the experience of runaway children who are often victims of hunger, sickness and sexual abuse,” she said.

Ms Zobaida said that technology, where its benefits are numerous, also had its bad side for children. Internet is a wonderful tool for our children to broaden their knowledge, expand their minds, but the evils of the world have crept into this technology as well.

The federal minister stressed on forming consortium at district levels between civil society organisations, community- based organisations, social welfare departments and all relevant government departments for a collective and holistic approach to address the issues of children rights. She also underlined the need for an enhanced cooperation between different law enforcement agencies like the police, FIA and others to ensure greater protection for children.