Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) began functioning in 1992 with the aim of promoting child rights in Pakistan both at the provincial and district level. One of the methods used to promote child rights was to hold consultations at district level. Soon after the participants at these consultations felt a need for follow up on what was discussed and carry out activities to achieve the goal.

Consequently, in 2000, SPARC started to organise Child Rights Committees (CRC) in the districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (NWFP) province. These committees, formed in about 40 districts consist of voluntary groups of activists who independently follow up on related issues in their local network.

SPARC under CSS Programme agree to undertake tasks and activities in their respective, regions and districts to promote and protect child rights. SPARC in turn shall support the CRCs/CSOs with literature, capacity building training and an honorarium to cover some operational activities. The CRCs/CSOs are expected also to mobilise resources locally and to initiate their own activities to promote and protect child rights.

The CRCs /CSO have worked closely with SPARC on a number of issues; Child Rights, Child Labour, Juvenile Justice, Violence against Children, to raise awareness and build the capacity at the grassroots level among the general public and among the authorities concerned with each of these issues.

It is also important to SPARC that it strengthens and develops the capacity of the CRCs/CSOs to raise awareness, advocate for child rights and respond to child protection issues in their respective areas. Collaboration with the CRCs and like minded civil society organisations, SPARC hopes that the promotion and protection of child rights will become a social movement with increased sustainability.

Contact List of CRC | Punjab | Sindh | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Responsibilities of the CRCs include:

• To act as a focal point for all child rights issues in the district
• To arrange legal aid for children in conflict with the law
• To keep in close contact with official associated with child rights related work, such as probation department, police labour inspector, education officer and health officials etc.
• To highlight child rights issues in the media, maintaining a close working relationship with elected members
• To carry out investigations and fact finding missions in all incidents involving child rights
• To make monthly visits to the juvenile sections of the jails
• To campaign against corporal punishment in schools and violence in general against children
• To campaign against child domestic labour
• To report child rights violation to SPARC, the federal and provincial governments and officials concerned
• To build pressure on the government to enact laws related to child protection
• To develop linkages with parliamentarians
• To deliver lectures in educational institutions on CR and PC, in their respective regions

During the 2008 SPARC decided to restructure and reorganise its Programmes on the basis of operational activities. Thus since January 2009 SPARC introduced five themes or Programmes:

• CSS (Civil Society Strengthening)
• Juvenile Justice
• VAC (Violence against Children)
• CL (Child Labour)
• UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child).

Home | Conact List of CRC | Punjab | Sindh | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Civil Society Strengthening | 1