Call for greater investment in children in light of UN conventions, Covid-19

Child rights experts and parliamentarians at an event marking International Human Rights Day on Wednesday stressed the need for increased investment in children in light of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Covid19 pandemic.

The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) organised the event at a local hotel. Veerji Kolhi, special assistant to chief minister of Sindh on human rights, said 47 per cent of Pakistan’s population comprised children under the age of 18. “The Sindh government is committed to uplifting the status of children,” he said.

He mentioned that Pakistan ratified the UNCRC in November 1990, but only 24 per cent of the laws in Pakistan were in compliance with its requirements. “Bringing these legislations in conformity with the UNCRC and their effective implementation are a key priority for the government,” he said.

SPARC Executive Director Sajjad Ahmed Cheema said children had been the biggest victims of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Their access to education, health, nutrition, protection, and mental and physical development, has been dealt a heavy blow,” he said.

Citing a June report of the United Nations, he said the Covid-19 pandemic was likely to push more than 120 million South Asian children into poverty within the next six months.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan MNA Kishwar Zehra said free and quality education was a fundamental right of every child according to Article 25-A of the constitution. “But, unfortunately, Pakistan’s spending on education is the lowest in South Asia and one of the lowest in the world,” she said. “Hence Pakistan has 22.84 million out-of-school children, which is the 2nd highest figure in the world.”

She said that due to the Covid-19 pandemic this dropout ratio was expected to increase exponentially. Dr Seema Zia, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s MPA, stressed that there was a dire state of children’s health in Pakistan.

“In the budgets, there is no special allocation for child health and nutrition. As a result, 40 per cent of under-five-year children are at serious risk due to lack of proper nutrition,” she said, adding that Pakistan stands 3rd in countries with the highest burden of deaths among children of this age group.

National Commission on Child Right member Iqbal Detho raised concern over the increasing violence against children after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Children are facing corporal punishment and physical torture from financially and mentally depressed adults,” he said.

He mentioned that child marriages, trafficking and sale for commercial and sexual exploitation were expected to rise due to the increasing poverty. Muhammad Kashif Mirza, SPARC’s media and communication manager, who moderated the session, said Pakistan had approximately 47 per cent of Pakistan’s total population of children under the age of 18.

“Unfortunately, Pakistan hasn’t delivered on its international and national commitments towards child rights. Pakistan has 22.84 million out-of-school children, which is the second-highest figure in the world,” he said. “In addition, approximately 12 million Pakistani children are engaged in the labour force and many of them are involved in hazardous forms of work. This figure also includes over 1.2 million children living and working on the streets.”

PTI MPA Dr Sanjay Kumar, MQM-P MPAs Ghazala Sial and Mangla Sharma, government officials and child rights activists also attended the event.