Govt not playing its role in implementing child protection laws, says Raza Rabbani

Islamabad

Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani on Tuesday said that the State and its institutions were not playing their role in implementation of the laws for child protection and bar underage marriages, saying the State can’t turn a blind eye to the rights of children.

“More than two dozen laws are there at provincial and federal level with regard to the child protection and children rights but these are not being implemented,” he said. Rabbani charged the failure of the governance at different level had plagued the country and all resources of the State were not being used for the welfare of the masses rather being exploited for the vested interests. “The State will have to act and cannot turn a blind eye to the rights of the children,” he asserted.

The chairman Senate expressed these views while participating in a panel discussion on: “Child Protection Agenda 2017” organised by the Human Rights Organisation at a local hotel here on Tuesday. The event was addressed by Federal Ombudsman Suleman Farooqi, Human Rights activist Hina Jillani, Chairperson National Commission on the Status of Women and Syed Tallat Hussain.

Rabbani said that effective implementation on the existing laws with regard to the child protection including child labour and underage marriages can substantially improve the situation but this not possible without the active role of the State and its institutions, which were not ready to act at present.

He charged that the provincial and federal institutions responsible for implementation of these laws were not even in position to give details of these laws. He added that the issue of child protection could not be eradicated without understanding its context as it closely associated with the poverty and ignorance in the society.

The Senate, he added, had adopted a bill unanimously on ‘Unattended Orphans”, which was subsequently sent to the National Assembly but it has not been considered as yet. He said, “we are now planning to move the said draft bill during the joint sitting of the Parliament. The Senate is very much alive to such important issues however, the parliamentarians can further be sensitized. We mostly take-up an issue when it comes to the limelight but a proper follow-up is missing”.

Rabbani noted that the issues regarding the child protection and child marriages must be taken up in the Council of Common Interest (CCI) and blame for failure of the different institutions should not be put on the 18th Amendment as many of such issues are very chronic in nature.

He said the State of Pakistan was in the hand of the ruling elite, which wanted to maintain a status quo and was not willing to accept that the country was governed as per aspirations of the people.

“The human rights organisations are the only oxygen available to the society and if these institutions are compromised, it would be disastrous for the country. Efforts have been made to make the Senate of Pakistan a transparent institution. However, all the segments of the society should play a collective role to overcome the serious issues confronting the country,” he emphasised.