The World Consumer Rights Day was observed across the globe including Pakistan on Friday. ‘Consumer Justice Now!’ is theme of World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) 2013. International Consumer Rights Day is an occasion that relates to any and every person on this planet i.e. from children’s diet to the services a person buys. The Day holds a unique history of integrated association among National Consumers Organizations to establish International Organization of Consumers Union back in 1960 in London‚ though awareness of the concept was in USA by the efforts of Standards Organizations as early as 1900. However‚ on March 15‚ 1962‚ US President John F. Kennedy made a historic speech and highlighted four basic rights of consumers which led to the creation of Consumers Bill of Rights. The United Nations through the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection endorsed the idea and in 1985 expanded these into 8 rights‚ and thereafter Consumers International (a movement that now represents over 220 member organizations in 115 countries around the world) adopted these rights as a charter and started recognizing March 15 as World Consumer Rights Day.However the day was first observed on 15 March 1983. The Network for Consumer Protection‚ commonly known as “The Network”‚ was founded in 1992 as NGO with focus on medicines and public health‚ later expanded its attention to consumer protection in general. The basic objective of the day is to promote the fundamental rights of the consumers. Every year on 15 March‚ the global consumer movement unites around a common theme to deliver an exciting array of campaigning activities. WCRD 2013 will be an important opportunity for consumer organizations to draw the world’s attention to the crucial role that consumer protection plays in making societies safer and fairer. Transitional economies and the developing world can all benefit from improvements in consumer protection. The day will also focus on bringing attention to those areas which desperately need improvement.
