President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday said the government was committed to promote and protect the rights of children in accordance with moral and ethical values as well as democratic principles. “We pledge that democracy and we will defend the rights of children. Children are our future and whatever we do today, it will be for our future generations,” the president said after signing the Instrument of Ratification of Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The signing ceremony of the Instrument of Ratification of Optional Protocol to UN Convention on Rights of the Child on Sales of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography was held at the Presidency.
The president said democracy derived its strength from the people, therefore, it was bound to promote and protect their rights.
Zardari termed the ratification “historic”, saying child protection had become extremely important in the current global environment, as the world has turned into a global village.
He said the government was fully cognisant of the sensitivities of child rights protection and was taking every step to ensure it. The president called upon the federal government to expedite the proposed Child Protection (Criminal Law) Amendment Bill and asked the federal and provincial governments to ensure that all provisions of the Optional Protocol to UN Convention on Rights of the Child were implemented in letter and spirit. “By ratifying the Optional Protocol to UN Convention on Rights of the Child, Pakistan has taken yet another important step to promote the rights of our children in accordance with our moral and ethical values as well as democratic principles,” the president said.
Zardari said the government was committed to promoting and protecting the rights of children and was “determined to ensure the well-being and development of our children in a safe, loving and caring environment”.
“This is our political manifesto as well as our religious responsibility,” he said. “Our constitution guarantees protection to children.”
He said children were the real asset of the society and should be protected from all kinds of exploitation and abuses, adding that the sale of children, child pornography and other crimes must be curbed.
The president said child exploitation, particularly exploitation of a girl child, was the product of a number of inter-related factors, adding that “these factors include poverty, under development, socio-economic disparities, irresponsible attitudes and criminal behavior”.
Expressing a firm resolve to address all the factors, the president emphasised that the responsibility to protect children was a collective responsibility and required joint efforts by all.
