April 29, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 22, 1429

LAHORE, April 28: The government’s directorate of human rights has resolved to work more closely with non-governmental organisations to combat societal ills such as imprisonment of youths, child marriages and poor labour conditions for kiln workers, an official told Dawn on Monday.

The undertaking follows a meeting last week between regional director Akhtar Rahman and NGOs Caritas Pakistan, Sharp, Shirkatgah, Sahil and the Prisoners Aid Association.

The director lauded the NGOs for their work towards empowering women, labourers and children.

The rights groups lodged several complaints with the government, in particular that the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 was not being implemented and youths under the age of 18 continued to be held in prisons, that kiln workers remained unregistered and labour laws were not made applicable to them, and that the ongoing practice of child marriages went unchecked, particularly in tribal regions of the country.

Zia Aftab, a spokesman for the directorate, said: “The government has a role to play by formulating and enforcing laws in line with human rights conventions. We hope to continue and expand our role under the new government.”

He said the directorate would place pressure to pass resolutions through the national and provincial assemblies, where applicable, to reduce human rights violations nationwide.