PESHAWAR, July 4: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should launch initiatives for providing protection to street children who are among the most vulnerable part of population.

This was stated by programme manger of the Society for Protection of Rights of the Child, Imran Takkar, during a certificate awarding ceremony for street children.

According to a Sparc press release on Thursday, it awarded certificates to street/working children who completed vocational training and non-formal education course in the society’s drop in centre here.

Mr Takkar said that street children were susceptible to disease, violence, sexual abuse etc while about 1.2 million children in Pakistan were on the street. Over 100 male and female street children were present on the occasion.

The society runs a drop in centre here in Sikandar Town since 2006, which provides non-formal education, vocational skills and recreational and other facilities to street children. It was said that due to lack of educational facilities and corporal punishment in schools and homes, children on the street were facing exploitation.

Mr Takkar said that there was a need for devising a mechanism for the identification, reunification and rehabilitation of street children. In this connection the government should take initiatives keeping in view the interest of the child.

Khalid Mahmood, Sparc's drop in centre’s manager, said that protection and promotion of children rights was the state responsibility, but the facilitation role of the civil society organisations in this connection was also important.