LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Human Rights and Minority Affairs Ijaz Alam Augustine said on Tuesday that the government envisioned a society where a child could live free from violence and abuse, assuring that his ministry would play a positive role in implementing this vision.

“I pledge to address children’s issues, especially in formation of a child protection policy,” he added. The minister also said that he would bring the issues of child labour and abuse among other issues affecting them to the notice of the chief minister so that the government could come up with comprehensive strategies.

The minister was speaking at an event held at the Children’s Library Complex to mark the Universal Children’s Day. Representatives from the National Commission for Human Rights, Punjab Ministry of Human Rights and Minorities Affairs and civil society were present on the occasion.

A panel of children interacted with the minister along with PTI MPAs Sumaira Bukhari and Musarrat Jamshed Cheema.

The government was urged to take steps to prohibit corporal punishment in schools, which was said to be one of the major reasons for rising dropout rate in schools. Child sexual abuse and domestic labour were also discussed and the lack of a policy to deal with them pointed out. Other demands from the government included an increase in education budget with a focus on girls education, prohibition of child marriages, psychological and emotional health issues of children and young people.

MPA Bukhari voiced her support for the demands and talked about initiation of a parenting skills programme. MPA Cheema said children must be included in decision-making process where they could help provide solutions or highlight problems.

Meanwhile, the AGHS Legal Aid Cell states that while the world observes Universal Children’s Day by empowering and strengthening children, Pakistan was still struggling with various issues of rights of a child and their protection.

A press release stated that Pakistan has seen a staggering number of child sexual abuse cases since last year, as per the Child Protection Bureau, wherein 3,445 cases were registered in 2017.

The legal aid cell that the late rights defender Asma Jahangir established recommends child rights issues to be raised on provincial as well as federal levels to build systematic data to understand the number of occurrences of abuse. The law enforcement authorities and prison staff needed to be sensitised to deal with the increasing number of such cases with empathy.

It also emphasised the importance of establishing juvenile courts, implementation of the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018 as well as acts such as The Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act 2004, stressed the state should take up the responsibility of rehabilitating, counselling and helping children who had been abused.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2018