ISLAMABAD: More than 2.5 million street children are facing a bleak future in Pakistan.

This was stated by Khalida Ahmed, Member Board of Directors, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) on Tuesday while speaking at an event held in Mehr Abadi in Islamabad.

She said more than half of the street children — 56pc — have fled domestic violence, 22pc dropped out of school or other educational facilities and 22pc are working to support their families.

The event was held in connection with International Street Children Day with a slogan, ‘Every Child Deserves Every Right’.

The day aims at giving voices to millions of street children and creating awareness about the deleterious state of the children. She said globally around 28 million children were homeless due to ongoing conflicts and account for almost half of the refugee population.

Sparc Executive Director Asiya Arif said Pakistan needed to follow four steps of the United Nations’ general comment on street children: commit to equality, protect every child, provide access to services and create specialised solutions.

“These are foundational steps for formulating policies and creating multi-pronged institutional responses in tackling the issue of street children in Pakistan,” she said.

Manager of Child Protection Sparc Farmanullah Khan said children had special rights and they needed their rights to be protected without any prejudice in any way.

“This is necessary to ensure their well-being, successful development and their rights. Not only parents, but all governments and state institutions have duty to create a child friendly environment and to promote children’s rights,” he said.

A speaker, Waseem Ahmed, said Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on Nov 12, 1990 and successive governments had renewed their commitment to creating friendly environment for all Pakistani children.

“Unfortunately, huge challenges remain for them in the country. There are laws regarding child Education, health, nutrition, juvenile justice, violence, neglect, labour and marriage but unfortunately these laws have not been fully implemented,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2022