A two-day consultation on “Adapting System Approach to Child Protection in Pakistan” concluded with a consensus between the provinces to share the modules and Standards Operating Procedures (SOP) in order to get benefit from the positive experiences of each other.
Organised by Child Rights Legal Centre (CRLC) in collaboration with Save the Children, the session noted an important fact that the Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) apparently had a lead in child protection mechanism with its Child Welfare Department actively involving stakeholders in various projects.
Moreover, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government was also working on many projects for child protection. The representatives of KP government asked the AJK authorities to share their experiences so that they could also follow its footsteps.
One of the lamenting facts that came into limelight is that the Punjab government, who has taken the initiative of child protection a decade ago, is now lagging behind all the provinces.
Having a centralised system to provide child protection services was the another suggestion that managed to build the consensus. The participants of the consultation believed that instead of working in small segments that costs resources, it was better to have a centralized system which would also avoid duplication and would increase efficiency.
Addressing on the occasion, the chief of KPK Child Protection Unit (CPU), Ijaz Khan, said they had managed to introduce KPK Child Protection Act 2010 in which they tried to cover the children at risk.
“We have introduced CPU in provincial capital (Peshawar) in which these centres have been established in eight districts.”
While sharing the challenges in the implementation of law, he said there were many issues that were been related to PPC. “I think some of the issues should be dealt separately rather they require a separate legislation,” he added.
AJK Social Welfare Secretary Farhat Mir said there was no doubt about the fact that the issue of child protection was directly linked with law and judiciary but the responsibility of parents, guardians and society could not be ignored.
He said the situation in AJK was somewhat different from other provinces as majority of people were sensitised due to various factors, including the higher literacy rate.
Dr Naeem Zafar from Punjab said that the most devastating act was to hand over the Child Protection and Bureau to the Home Department. He stressed the need for a supervisory body to monitor the various projects on child protection and to play its effective role in activating the dead projects.
