‘NCHD mission to empower women’

Islamabad: Education and awareness is the only way to bring a positive change in attitudes of individuals as well as society.

The National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) with other stakeholders on board is on a mission to empower women and children to become useful citizens with sources of earnings. The focus is on educational and training aspects including skill development.

This was observed by chairperson of the NCHD Razina Alam Khan, while addressing to the senior management's meeting here on Monday. She briefed the management about NCHD’s plan of skill development, training programmes along with imparting education and viewed that the initiatives would provide employment opportunities to the illiterates by making them skillful.

"Under the Constitution of Pakistan, we are under obligation to promote best interests of children by providing them access to equal opportunities without any discrimination. In our programmes we should ensure that children are being provided a conducive, healthy and protective environment for learning, she stressed. Checking the dropout of children from schools is another gigantic duty of us," she said.

The NCHD chairperson said keeping in view the low literacy rate in the country, the commission had adopted a two-pronged approach to provide access to education i.e. Adult Literacy Programme for the mothers and Universal Primary Education through its Feeder Schools in the remote areas for the unprivileged children.

She said there are 5,949 formal feeder schools of NCHD functional all over the country with 355,000 enrolment along with 6000 adult functional literacy centres. "Being a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Pakistan has always remained at the forefront to advocate, protect and promote child rights. Our resolve towards child welfare continues to reflect in our state policies," she said.

She commended the efforts of Ministry of Human Rights for introducing the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act 2016, which clearly states harsh punishment for offences against children including exposure to child abuse and human trafficking.

While briefing about NCHD interventions she said, NCHD had developed many models and initiatives are taken to provide education to all with equal rights and creating opportunities both for girls and boys.

She said the establishment of non-formal schools in Islamabad in collaboration with JICA Pakistan, and running of 100 madrassa Feeder Schools for mainstreaming the children with Universal Primary Education, Community Learning Centres, and School Health Programs for children and adult literacy centres at workplace and jails are our successful innovations.

"It is encouraging to note that the number of out of school children has decreased to 22.8 million in the country, now we have to make them all bright stars and to stop dropouts from schools. It is the time to convert all our commitments, strategies and plans into action and work with the true spirit for the eradication of illiteracy and rights of the children," she said. She however stressed the need for the all concerned achieving targets of 90% literacy rate and 100% enrolment by 2025.