Commission on the rights of children

Article 25 (3) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan recognizes special right of protection for children due to their vulnerability. Pakistan ratified United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on November 12, 1990 which provides broader outlines for the promotion and protection of child rights. Every person below the age of 18 years is a child under the UNCRC. Over 47 percent of the total population of Pakistan consists of children less than 18 years of age. The UNCRC made it obligatory on the states which ratify the Convention to take all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights enshrined in the Convention. The 18th constitutional amendment passed by the parliament has made child rights a provincial subject. It is important to note though children constitute almost fifty percent of the total population of the province but still there is no body with a statutory status for the promotion and protection of their rights.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations to Pakistan in 2009, recommended the establishment ‘of an independent monitoring structure with a mandate to regularly evaluate progress in the implementation of the Convention’. So in compliance of the committee’s recommendation now the provincial government(s) should immediate establish an independent and empowered Provincial Commission on the Rights of Children. The proposed commission will act as a focal point for effective supervision and coordination of children’s rights related matters in general and children at risk in particular at provincial level in respect of activities for the survival, development, protection and participation of children.
Major role of the commission will be to comment on proposed new legislation at the earliest possible stage, or require the government to issue a child impact assessment to ensure that the legislation will comply with the best interests of the child while commission will also analyze existing laws, policies and practice to assess compliance with the Convention and other international human rights obligations relating to children and make recommendations to the Government. The Commission will analyze existing government statistics on children in general and children at risk in particular to identify gaps or the need for disaggregated data and where there is a lack of existing information about their lives, it shall produce data of its own through Commissioned research, or urge the government to undertake any necessary research as well as collect and publish data on the situation of children in general and children at risk in particular and take appropriate steps to protect and promote the rights of such children.
IFTIKHAR MUBARIK
Lahore