Lack of quorum leads to cancellation of human rights committee meeting

Islamabad : The second last meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights on Monday got cancelled due to lack of quorum.

Only two members came to attend the meeting which was about to discuss the steps taken by the government to protect children from sexual abuse. Review of the implementation of previous recommendations of the committee and presentation of the sub-committee report about the affectees of Warsak and Terbela Dams was also in the agenda.

High ranking officials from Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa came to attend the meeting. MNAs who attended the meeting included Aliya Kamran and Musarat Rafique Mahesar. MNA Munazza Hassan chaired the session and announced the cancelation of the meeting. She apologised from the participants and thanked them from taking their time out from their busy schedule.

According to data shared by the provincial representatives, 148 cases of child abuse cases were registered in Balochistan from the year 2013 till today with highest number reported in Quetta (57 cases) followed by Naseerabad (35 cases).

In Sindh, 646 cases of child abuse were registered from 2015 to 2017 with a decline of 267 cases registered in 2015 to the registration of 122 cases in 2017. There were 78 cases of child sexual abuse registered during the same time period. On the other hand, number of reported cases from January 2017 to June 2017, as mentioned in the documents, was 1,764.

The data also mentions the number of child and women protection centres working in different provinces, the advocacy activities taken up by the provincial governments and the laws passed at the provincial level.

Sindh police have established 37 women and child protection desks in different zones and districts of Sindh. Around 1,813 cases were reported on these desks in 2017. Among the total number of cases, 776 were resolved and 1,037 are in the process. In Balochistan, there is one Child Protection Unit functioning in Balochistan.