[HWPL]
[HWPL] HWPL Webinar Report : “Realization for the Protection and Guarantee of Children’s Human Rights in Pakistan”
Webinar was held to share the actual situation of children’s human rights in Pakistan and suggested ways to better realize human rights.
Introduction Webinar
On Tuesday, February 22nd, HWPL hosted a webinar, “Realization for the protection and guarantee of children’s human rights in Pakistan”. It was a webinar that shared the actual situation of children’s human rights in Pakistan and suggested ways to better realize human rights.
Speakers are Dr. Kashif Butt, Member of Amnesty international in Pakistan and Prof. Khursheed Ahmad Oan, Vice President of Harf Acadmi. They gave presentations on preventing early marriage, strengthening children’s education, and eradicating child labor. Common causes of human rights violations were poverty and lack of education. To solve this problem, the government and civic groups should work together to monitor the implementation of the law, increase opportunities for quality education, and raise awareness.
Background Information
The number of children in child labor has risen to 160 million worldwide – an increase of 8.4 million children in the last four years, 2016~2020 – with millions more at risk due to the impacts of COVID-19, according to a new report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and UNICEF.
Children in child labor are at risk of physical and mental harm. Child labor compromises children’s education, restricting their rights and limiting their future opportunities, and leads to vicious inter-generational cycles of poverty and child labor.
Many children in Pakistan work to support their families. Problems such as sexual assault, torture, and murder occur in this situation, but the judgment of the law is not properly implemented, resulting in many protests.
Points of discussion
Dr. Kashif Butt spoke about prevention of early marriages and strengthening children’s education in Pakistan. The major causes of child marriage are poverty, lacking application of the existing laws, trafficking, ineffective birth registration system and lack of public awareness. The adverse effects of child marriages are poor family planning, martial conflicts, confines economic empowerment of women, lack of decision making and poverty. There is no regulatory framework to deal with overall marriages and primarily the matter of child marriages in non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan. When a marriage involving young children takes place, the adults who agreed to the marriage and arranged it are punished, but the marriage does not stand dissolved. The ways to improve the prevention of child marriage are strict law enforcement, improved education and awareness, promotion of civil, sexual and reproductive health rights and provision of opportunities for making strategic choices and decisions.
According to the Journal of Child Education in Pakistan, there is a big ratio of children who are not getting enrolled in Primary school which is mandatory education for any child. Because parents do not have awareness, and not taking it seriously that their children should go to school (in the tribal and rural areas). The government is making so many plans, the previous government was also making plans, but most of the plans are on paper, so it needs time to improve the implementation of law in the education sector and the major sector for child.
Prof. Oan spoke about eradication of child labor. According to the Constitution of Pakistan, it is a crime for children under the age of 14 to work in factories, mines or other hazardous work. The causes of child labor are poverty, high inflation rate, low quality education, lack of family planning and another concept of manpower. Steps taken for eradication of child labor by government are provincial and regional polices, labor courts, distract vigilance committees and anti-trafficking unit to monitor the implementation of laws. As an NGO organization, it can provide legal assistance through activities such as seminars, discussion forums, workshops, and publications to raise awareness about child labor.
Highlights
Kashif Butt : The government and NGOs are making so many plans. It is important to implement the law in the education sector and other sectors for children.
Khursheed Ahmad Oan : In order to protect children’s human rights, it is essential to provide free education for children, to enforce and comply with child labor laws and to raise social awareness.
Next Steps
We will continue to hold a webinar with this topic to raise awareness of the human rights in Pakistan and to seek for better solutions for it.
