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CRM discusses ways to boost child protection
ISLAMABAD, January 25: The Child Rights Movement (CRM) has stressed the need to form a national coordinating group to represent Pakistan in the world. The organization held a special meeting to discuss the background and strategic framework of South Asian Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC).
SAIEVAC, an inter-governmental body, aims at making the people realise about children’s rights, preventing and responding to all forms of neglect, abuse, exploitation, and violence against children, promoting adoption, implementing and monitoring integrated national strategies and reinforcing regional cooperation to end violence against children.
Within this forum, the South Asia Coordinating Group on Action against Women and Children (SACG) was formed.
SPARC Assistant Manager Gulnaz Zahid and Munezeh Bano from NGO Sahil, shared the related information with 25 CRM participants. Samina Sardar from Plan Pakistan also shed light on the importance of SAIEVAC. Children’s Parliament Pakistan representative Arsalan Lateef, who is also the speaker of the Rawalpindi regional assembly, also participated in the meeting.
The meeting decided that a nine-member national-level committee would be formed, which would then elect the chair and co-chair. It decided that the committee would work on areas identified by SAIEVAC and achieve the aims and objectives of the forum. Top
Student Tortured by the Teacher
BHAKKAR, January 18: An eight year old student of class two was tortured by his teacher. The incident took place when the teacher beat the student because he failed to learn his assignment.
The eight year old student was beaten so severely that it is feared he might lose one of his eyes.
School administration did suspend the teacher, but according to the victims family they are being threatened not to pursue a criminal case against the teacher. Top
Anti-polio drive launched in Harnai
HARNAI, January 15: Three-day anti polio campaign was launched by the Deputy Commissioner Harnai Khudae Nazar Braich and District Health Officer Dr Jamal Khan Zarkoon by administering anti-polio drops to a child. Health teams would visit door-to door at every locality of the district and administer anti-polio drops to the hundreds of children below the age of five during the campaign. Top
Student accuses principal of breaking his arm
MANSEHRA, January 14: Despite a ban on corporal punishment in schools, some teachers are still flagrantly abusing children’s rights by brutally punishing them. In the latest incident, an eighth grader at Abbottabad Public School, Mansehra was allegedly subjected to severe punishment for breaking a flower pot. The principal allegedly beat him up with a bamboo stick, fracturing his left arm in two places.
The police, however, refused to register a case against the principal. When he was approached for comments by newsmen, he refused to comment on the issue and instead began publicly threatening them with “dire consequences” if the report was published.
Pakistan was the first among 20 countries to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which holds the state responsible for protecting the child from any physical or mental abuse, torture or degrading punishment and maintaining the child’s dignity.
In addition to that, under Section 34 of the Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010, anyone found guilty of corporal punishment may be imprisoned for a period of six months with a fine of up to Rs50, 000. According to SPARC, 41 cases of corporal punishment were reported in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from January to June 2011.Data collected by SPARC indicates that about 35,000 high school students in the country drop out of school every year due to corporal punishment. Top
NA Committee Approves Child Rights Bill
ISLAMABAD, January 10: The select committee of the National Assembly has approved the Charter of Child Rights Bill 2010 aimed at protecting and promoting the fundamental rights of children in Pakistan.
Drafted by Member National Assembly (MNA) Dr Attiya Inayatullah, the bill seeks to bring the country in line with the international charters and treaties it is signatory of. Under this charter, a body called the National Commission for the Rights of Children (NCRC) will be established under the Human Rights Commission which will have a twofold responsibility.
The NCRC will define rules and regulations to define the various rights of children including the right to life, education, parental care, right against abuse, for juvenile justice etc.
It will then ensure implementation of Charter of Child Rights in Islamabad capital territory as per the rules defined by it. Furthermore, it will be responsible for communicating the appropriate rules and SOPs to relevant departments and authorities so they can be applied.
As such, the role of NCRC will also be to serve as the focal point for facilitating, coordinating and reporting all child related international commitments to the provinces.
The hope is that this will encourage the provinces to establish similar bodies on the provincial level and legislate their own charters using the broad guidelines developed at the federal level. Top
Bill Gates Contacts Parents of Arfa for Treatment in US
January 9: Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft Company, has contacted parents of world's youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) holder Arfa Karim for her treatment.
Amjad Karim Randhawa, the father of ailing Arfa, told media persons that Bill Gates telephoned him and expressed his wish to bear the expenditures of Arfa's treatment in the US.
In the first step, Gates has directed his doctors to adopt every kind of measure for the treatment of young genius Microsoft professional. Gates' doctors contacted Arfa's Pakistani doctors and received details about the illness through internet.
The Pakistani doctors are of the view that Arfa is on ventilator, therefore, it will be hard to shift her into any other hospital. However doctors were considering different options regarding Arfa's shifting to US.
On the other hand relatives and family members of Arfa have lauded Bill Gates for contacting to bear her treatment expanses. They also expressed their dissatisfaction over Pakistan government attitude which despite repeated claims did not pay any head towards the issue. Top
300 Foreign Students of Seminaries without Visas
FAISALABAD, January 2: At least 300 foreign students have been studying in madaris (seminaries) of eight districts of Punjab without having valid visas for years according to media reports. The Punjab Home Department has asked commissioners of Lahore, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Attock, Faisalabad, Khanewal and Rahim Yar Khan to look into the issue and take appropriate action.
The report has been dispatched to the Punjab government stating that 298 of the 329 foreign students studying in different seminaries are living illegally as they don’t have any valid visa. Visas of a number of students have expired between 2007 and 2010.
Foreign students belong to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Comoros, Ethiopia, Djibouti, France, Indonesia, Netherlands, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Myanmar, Philippines, Russia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Tunis, Turkey and Uganda.
Reports say that 243 of the 244 students are illegally staying in Lahore, 12 of the 23 in Gujrat, 15 in Rawalpindi, 14 in Chakwal, two out of the 13 in Attock and 11 in Khanewal.Top
Two Youngsters Rape Teenage Girl
PESHAWAR, January 6: Two young men allegedly raped a teenage girl in Urmar Mayana village and later circulated the video of the episode in the village, according to police officials.
The victim, a 16-year-old (L) from Urmar Mayana, told police that she was on way to the house of a relative four months ago when two boys, Waqas and Manzoor, seized her. She alleged that the youth raped her and made her movie. She was later allowed to go home but was threatened that the video of the rape would be circulated if she disclosed the incident to anyone. The girl told the police that later she was not only assaulted but forced to steal money and ornaments from her home to give it to Waqas and Manzoor.
A police official said that the girl accused the two young men of having collected 35 tolas of gold ornaments from her during the last four months. When the girl refused to steal more money and ornaments, the accused boys circulated the video in the village. The police arrested one of the accused, Waqas, while efforts were continuing to nab his accomplice. Top
Child Killed in Bajaur Bomb Blast
KHAR, January 2: A girl was killed and three others sustained injuries in a roadside blast in Salarzai tehsil in Bajaur Agency. The sources said that a minor, Hajra Bibi, was killed and three other children sustained injuries when a powerful bomb planted by suspected militants on the roadside went off in Tarono village in Sarlazai tehsil.
The injured children identified as Fazal Rabi, Gul Nabi and Ali Khan were admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Timergara. The political administration launched a search operation in the area after the blast. However, there was no word about any arrest. Top
Born to Die
January 9: According to the Edhi Foundation, the extent of infanticide in the country has grown by some 100 per cent over the last decade. A spokesperson for the organisation has been quoted as saying that more bodies were being found in the streets in urban centres than ever before. Most of the tiny corpses belong to girls, considered an economic burden by many families. We can only wonder at the impact of religion at such moments, and wonder why the clerics so rarely bring up the teachings of Islam against female infanticide. The ministry of religious affairs should be working to have the message driven home from every mosque. A situation in which over 1,200 bodies of slain infants were found in a single year is after all not one to be disregarded.
It is believed that some of the infants, who are killed within a few hours of being born, are illegitimate; many others die simply because their parents are too poor to raise them. It is this that explains the fact that more girls than boys are murdered. In the 400 cradles placed outside its centres by the Edhi Foundation, only some 200 babies are left each year. People evidently prefer to murder their children rather than give them a future, and allow adoption by, say, a childless couple. Top
School Named after Malala Yousufzai
KARACHI, January 3: The Govt Girls Secondary School, Mission Road, has been renamed as Malala Yousufzai Govt Girls Secondary School with immediate effect, says a notification issued by the Sindh education department.
The 14-years-old girl from Swat, Malala Yousufzai, was on December 19, 2011 awarded the first National Peace Award for Youth by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for her services towards promoting girls education in her hometown.
Malala was earlier nominated for the International Peace Prize for Children in South Africa by Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, though the award was given to a South African handicapped girl.
Speaking to the media outside the Sindh Assembly building on Tuesday after attending the house proceedings as a special young guest, Ms Malala expressed her wish to form her own political party comprising people working for the cause of education. Top
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