KARACHI, March 2: A programme aimed at capacity building jointly organised by the Capital City Police Karachi and Azad Foundation, an NGO, held here at the ADRC police station on Friday.

The main purpose of the training was to maintain rapport among the service providers to ensure protective environment and safe future for street children and to sensitise the police officials about street children as children come into contact with the police either when they are in need of care and protection or in conflict with the law.

According to organisers, they hold such programmes to ensure that the encounter of street children with the police was always a positive one and to make police staff aware regarding child friendly laws present in our constitution as through their implementation protection could be provided to those children and save them from further victimisation.

Besides, the activity had also an objective to further strengthen the scope of cooperation with police constraints, help needed and threats being faced by street children and organisations working for the rehabilitation and reintegration of street children

Some 70 police officers attended the session. Sanaullah Abbasi, ADIGP/Establishment; Karachi, stressed the need for increased collaboration between police, non-governmental organisation (NGOs) and masses to take steps for the protection of the neglected part of the society – children living on streets.

A representative of the Azad Foundation said the NGO had initiated various services to rehabilitate these children.

She informed that there were around 10,000-12,000 street children in Karachi and more then half of them inhabited Saddar and Jamshed towns.

The participants were informed that majority of these street children had arrest record of 51.7 per cent.

While discussing average days of police custody it showed that 33.5 per cent remained in police custody for 2-7 days.

Data also showed that 31.5 per cent children were arrested on the charges of theft, 28.8 per cent were arrested for drug addiction while 20 per cent were arrested without any reason. The programme was followed by a question-answer session.