ISLAMABAD: The year 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The commemoration is set to begin today (Thursday) with a call from United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) that countries must act on their pledge and accelerate progress already made and develop new solutions to translate rights into realities.

The CRC underscores the accountability of governments, civil society, parents and the international community to fulfil their obligations towards realising the rights of children and ensure that these rights remain inalienable, integral and indivisible from the universal human rights framework.

The official ceremony is set to begin Thursday with the participation of President Dr Arif Alvi.

According to Unicef, Pakistan was one of the first countries to ratify the CRC within a year of its adoption.

Though a lot has been done during the past 30 years, more needs to be done since Pakistan has one of the highest infant mortality rates as thousands of children under five years of age die every year from preventable diseases; the nutritional status of children is poor, with about one in four children under five affected by stunting and an estimated 22.6 million aged five to 16 years are not attending school and some are forced into early marriage and child labour.

Unicef emphasised four basic child rights that must be ensured on priority basis: the right to survival, development, protection and participation.Pakistan has adopted key legislation and mechanisms for the protection of rights of children, and an action plan for human rights is being implemented which proposes legal and programmatic reforms for protection of vulnerable groups including victims of child labour and trafficking.

On the directive of the prime minister, the Ministry of Human Rights is developing an application called the ‘Mera Bacha Alert’ (My Child Alert) for the recovery of kidnapped or abducted children.

The app will be connected to the Pakistan Citizen Portal so that progress in any case, including the recovery of the child, can be monitored.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2019