"National Child Protection Policy", due to promote secure environment for children ensuring their protection against all forms of violence, abuse, discrimination, negligence and exploitation, is ready to be submitted in the cabinet for approval.
Talking to APP here Sunday, official sources said the prime responsibility to protect all citizens including children, lies with the state, adding it should empower parents or guardians to protect children as primary care givers and create environment free of violence, abuse, negligence, discrimination and exploitation.
"When parents or guardians do not or cannot fulfil their responsibility, the state has the legal obligation to intervene to ensure that children are adequately protected", they said. They informed that the policy ensures safety of children in residential care and juvenile detention facilities, adding efforts shall be made for efficient reorganisation to meet minimum standards programmes for prevention, protection, rehabilitation and reintegration of children.
The policy also addresses issues of children who are at risk of harm, including poverty, orphanage, abandoned, disability, internal displacement, migrant work, or street living, children in conflict with law and children with their mothers in prisons.
"According to the policy, child's right including protection, health, education and recreation shall be honoured even if the child is imprisoned with the mother or born in jail", the sources said.
Under the policy, a system would be developed to ensure registration of every child at or shortly after birth, and fulfil his or her right to acquire name and nationality in accordance with the national laws and relevant international instruments.
"Effective co-ordination shall be encouraged among relevant agencies including Ministry of Local Government, Interior (Nadra and Nara) and immigration authorities to ensure registration of children", they said.
The sources said awareness raising campaigns would be launched to sensitise masses on the importance of registration after birth, adding that capacity of the staff, responsible for carrying out birth registration, would be enhanced.
Special procedures for children, without birth registration or with late birth registration, shall be put in place, they maintained.
They further said that the policy also recommends establishing a separate system of criminal justice for children under the age of 18 years. Federal and provincial governments shall establish exclusive juvenile courts in pursuance with the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 (JJSO).
To expedite juvenile cases and reduce court backlogs, they said, dedicated juvenile judges would be designated at district level and child-friendly court procedures would be established. The JJSO must be extended to apply to all parts of the country and its implementation enhanced, they stressed.
Judges and law-enforcement officials shall be trained on child rights and protection and the JJSO through pre-service and in-service training in academies and colleges.
The parole and probation system shall be strengthened and made more accessible to children, they said adding the provinces shall establish borstal institutions and run them according to Borstal Acts and where there is no such Act present, provincial government shall promulgate such laws.