Sparc has urged the government to expedite the process of enactment of legislation that embodies rights of children, besides setting up of an independent commission on their rights, which should have the powers to monitor and protect children's rights across the country.
Article 25 (3) of the Constitution empowers the government for making special provisions for protection of women and children. Recent decision by the government to place the National Commission on the Status of Women in the Ministry of Human Rights is a welcoming step. In this context, the case of children is at par and in juxtaposition with those of women. It is sad to note that the Bill of National Commission on the Rights of Children (NCRC) is pending since 2009 without any progress towards its enactment. Though children constitute almost 50 percent of the population, but still there is nobody with a statutory status for the promotion and protection of their rights. The government urgently needs to enact the NCRC Bill and establish a focal statutory body within the Human Rights Ministry to honour its constitutional and international obligations by applying rule of consistency.
Sparc welcomes the ratification of Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography by Government on June 10 2011, a supplementary law to already ratified UN Convention on the Rights of Child ratified in 1990. However, by ratifying the Optional Protocol the government has committed itself to take legislative and administrative steps and make budgetary allocations to implement the provisions of the Optional Protocol.
In this regard the Child Protection (Criminal Law) Amendment Bill is in the pipeline for the last many years and currently lying in the Ministry of Interior, Sparc demanded its enactment without any delay to criminalize sale of children, child prostitution, child pornography and internal trafficking of children. After ratifying the Optional Protocol the President made a vow that the Government will introduce legislation to ensure its effective implementation of the provisions.-PR
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