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The Ministry of Human Rights supported by the European Union has
identified key priority areas to create awareness on the prevention,
protection and redress of issues related to the rights of the child. On
Thursday, 4th July 2019, the Ministry of Human Rights launched an
awareness campaign to educate people about Protecting Our Children:
Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in Pakistan.
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“Safeguarding children is our Islamic duty, our constitutional duty and
is in line with our International commitments of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC). The government through the Ministry of Human
Rights is committed to fulfilling obligations to our children”, said Dr
Shireen Mazari, Federal Minister for Human Rights in Pakistan in her
speech addressing the esteemed participants of the event.
Ms. Rabia Javeri Agha, Secretary, Ministry of Human Rights while talking
to the key stakeholder and participants of the event shared the National
Plan of Action for the Rights of the Child. She explained how the
ministry has a holistic approach to ensure that the rights of the child
are addressed properly. This is primarily done through ensuring
prevention, protection, rehabilitation/reintegration, participation and
learning mechanisms. The government is interested in creating behavior
change through targeted awareness campaigns, enforcing justice and
making systemic change through the establishment of institutions i.e.
the National Commission on the Rights of the Child.
Reported cases of child abuse increased by 11 per cent in year 2018
compared to 2017, with more than 10 children suffering some form of
abuse every day in Pakistan last year. The Protect Our Children
initiative aims to inform the public especially families, care givers
and parents about the importance of noticing the signs of child abuse so
that children can be protected and supported in order to be taken out of
such situations.
Goodwill Ambassador for the Campaign, Shehzad Roy (Sitara -e- Imtiaz) in
his speech emphasized the need for such initiatives and also provided
insight on how important it is for the Pakistani society to notice the
signs that child survivors of abuse and exploitation express silently.
“We’ve come leaps and bounds in recent years by successfully advocating
for protection and preventive policies to combat child abuse. It is to
be hoped that now millions of children will be saved from abuse. There
is however a need for acceptance and ownership by the community and
parents in particular” said Roy in his key note address.
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Federal Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) collaborated with children, the
key stakeholder, for legal and policy reforms to enforce child rights
across Pakistan, highlighting the positive outcomes of the synergy
between the Ministry and children. Participating child representatives (Fariha
Zamir and Qaiser Khan ) explained how those laws led to the
establishment of pilot child courts in provincial and federal capitals
in the country, in collaboration with a visionary judiciary. Towards the
end, the children pledged to continue their work with the federal MoHR,
combine efforts for juvenile justice reform, legislation, building
capacities and developing response mechanisms to contribute to the
overarching goal of promoting child rights and ensuring justice for
children in the country.
The participants of the event included Ambassadors and dignitaries from
various EU countries and UN Agencies as well as INGO, NGOs, Academia and
Civil Society Organizations.
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