KARACHI, Jan 1: Efforts are needed to secure a safe and better future for children as more and more kids are facing psychological and physical problems, including criminal threats amid fast changing moral values.

These views were expressed by speakers at a seminar on “role of city government in protection of children’s rights.”

The seminar was organized by Madadgar, an NGO campaigning for the rights of children who fall victim to criminal assaults.

The speakers informed that not only children belonging to poor families but also to from well-off families face psychological threats mainly due to un-attentiveness of parents which leads children to taking drugs, or running away from homes, ultimately falling into the hands of hardened criminals.

According to the data available with Madadgar, 428 children were murdered in 2001 while 208 cases of boys being sexually harassed were reported, of whome 19 were murdered whereas 15 girls were killed after being raped.

Four women councillors, including Shazia Bano, Sadia, Shehnaz Akhter and Hameeda Bano spoke on the occasion.

They said it was too early to expect that the city government would bring an overnight change. They, however, said that things were moving in a proper direction and as there are people who have been working for a better future of 45 per cent of the population.

Shazia Bano said a new and independent literacy department has been formed for the first time at local level whose main job is to impart basic education to those adults and children who cannot obtain regular education.

Elected representatives informed that the problem not only exists among poor sections of society but a large number of well-to-do families avoid sending their kids to schools on the plea that their children would need no jobs when they would grow up.

However, councillors informed that this is the basic job of new local bodies system to approach the general public at their door-step. They also called upon the Madadgar to organise such programmes at the union council level.

Zia Ahmed Awan, the coordinator of the Madadgar, informed that the NGO came into existence after the gruesome murder of 100 children by Javed Iqbal in Lahore.

They deplored that ironically no data about the 100 missing children had been compiled. He said the Madadgar was trying to collect such a data to be shared with all concerned agencies and NGOs.

He called upon the general public and NGOs to coordinate with the City Government and try to provide input to local representatives for the betterment of education and for providing recreational facilities to children.

Another speaker informed that there were about 10,000 streetchildren in Karachi and most of them were kidnapped by organised gangs. A large number of those missing from rural areas are forced into beggary, prostitution and local crimes.—PPI