KARACHI – Appreciating the role of the United Nations’ Children Fund (UNICEF), Sindh Ombudsman Asad Ashraf Malik said that the fund is playing an important role in protecting the rights of children.
Talking to UNICEF Child Protection Specialist Dr Jabeen Fatima Abbas and Child Protection Officer in Sindh Suhail Ahmed at his office, the ombudsman expressed confidence that the Child Complaint Office set up at the Sindh Ombudsman Secretariat,in cooperation with UNICEF, would play an effective role in fighting child abuse in province.
The UNICEF delegation discussed the performance of the Child Complaint Office with the ombudsmann. They also discussed steps to continue and strengthen coordinated programmes in the future. It was decided by the UNICEF delegation and the provincial ombudsman that close coordination between the two institutions would continue and candid efforts would be made to promote awareness about child rights in Sindh.
Sindh Ombudsman Secretariat Secretary Capt (retd) Javed Ishrat was also present during the meeting. To address the issue of child rights and realise the ideals of United Nations Convention on Rights of Child, a child complaint office was recently set up in collaboration with UNICEF at Sindh Ombudsman Secretariat in 2009.
It is the first regional office of its kind in whole of South Asia.
It is providing the much needed platform for addressing child rights issues through research, advocacy and engagement with children and other stakeholders.
