These bills have been under discussion for years but have not been enacted into law. The UN committee also raised the matter of the Frontier Crimes Regulation and the Zina and Hudood Ordinances. Both these laws, despite revisions to the latter, contain clauses that conflict with the provisions of the UN convention on child rights. It also pointed out that the proposed National Commission on the Rights of the Child had not yet been constituted.

These delays translate into continuing misery for thousands of children whose rights are routinely abused. Although Pakistan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, issues such as child labour and trafficking, violence against children, sexual abuse and child marriages have not been resolved.

Legislation such as the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance is encouraging but insufficient. The latter was formulated in 2000 but its stipulated codes of conduct have never been properly implemented. Similarly, despite the Employment of Children Act 1991, child labour has increased in recent years due to a corresponding rise in poverty. It is essential that this dismal situation be rectified. The budgetary allocation for children’s health and education must be increased, and related issues such as development and poverty addressed. With the country’s population skewed heavily towards the young and a rising birth rate, it is high time that the protection of child rights became a priority of both the state and the citizenry.